Samoa: Control of Corruption - Governance score (0-100)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 4.81% from 64.42 in 2020 (0.98% a year on average, compounded). Since 1996 it is up 29.87% from 47.22 in 1996 (0.91% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 3 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2025, Samoa's control of Corruption - Governance score (0-100) rose 0.00362 on 2024 (from 61.32 to 61.32).

Across the 22 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2024), the average change was +0.67 and a typical year strayed about 2.9 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 8.85 in 2005 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.38 in 2024. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.72 a year. A straight line explains 36% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, Samoa had the 54th highest value of the 205 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Samoa in the 2025 ranking

• St. Vincent and the Grenadines — 50th of 205: 62.62
• Costa Rica — 51st of 205: 62.04
• Micronesia, Fed. Sts. — 52nd of 205: 61.57
• Spain — 54th of 205: 61.21
• Rwanda — 55th of 205: 60.88
• Slovenia — 56th of 205: 60.69

What this measures

Control of Corruption (CC) captures perceptions of the extent to which public power is used for private gain, including both petty and grand corruption, as well as capture of the state by elites and private interests. Governance score is a linear transformation of the governance estimate using hypothetical worst-case and base-case countries. It is an absolute score ranging from 0-100. Larger values correspond to better governance. The (country-series-time) metadata include the (a) number of sources, and (b) confidence intervals (lower and upper bound). The number of sources indicates the number of underlying data sources on which the governance score (respectively the underlying governance estimate) is based. The confidence intervals include the lower and upper bound of the 90% confidence interval for the governance score. Confidence intervals are a statistical range of values that likely contain the true value (of what is being estimated).

Limitations: The WGI are perception-based measures which draw on 35 distinct underlying data sources, namely expert assessments and household/firm surveys. Data sources based on expert assessments have both strengths and limitations relative to surveys. A key strength is that they are well suited to cross-country comparison, since their methodologies are explicitly designed for this purpose. Expert assessments can also provide more detailed technical judgments on specific public institutions or governance functions that typical household or firm survey respondents may not be well placed to assess.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a indicators, from the underlying data sources, are aggregated using the unobserved components model (ucm). the ucm is essentially a weighted average, resulting in a governance estimate at the country level. the following provides a detailed description of the aggregation methodology: https://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/sites/govindicators/doc/the%20worldwide%20governance%20indicators%202025%.

All 27 values

Control of Corruption - Governance score (0-100) in nearby economies

• American Samoa — 71.84 (2025)
• Australia — 85.12 (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 68.07 (2025)
• Cambodia — 22.56 (2025)
• China — 49.47 (2025)
• Fiji — 58.83 (2025)
• Guam — 71.84 (2025)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 81.05 (2025)
• Indonesia — 37.68 (2025)
• Japan — 77.38 (2025)
• Kiribati — 54.03 (2025)
• Korea, Dem. People's Rep. — 16.73 (2025)
• Korea, Rep. — 66.68 (2025)
• Lao PDR — 28.03 (2025)
• Macao SAR, China — 59.62 (2025)

More policy & institutions data for Samoa

• Control of Corruption - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — 0.66 (2025)
• Government Effectiveness - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — 0.2 (2025)
• Government Effectiveness - Governance score (0-100) — 56.49 (2025)
• Political Stability - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — 1.34 (2025)
• Political Stability - Governance score (0-100) — 89 (2025)
• Rule of Law - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — 1.06 (2025)
• Rule of Law - Governance score (0-100) — 76.11 (2025)
• Regulatory Quality - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — -0.08 (2025)
• Regulatory Quality - Governance score (0-100) — 54.2 (2025)
• Voice and Accountability - Governance estimate (approx. -2.5 to +2.5) — 0.92 (2025)
• Voice and Accountability - Governance score (0-100) — 74.53 (2025)

Every indicator for Samoa is on the Samoa data page.

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Samoa's control of Corruption - Governance score (0-100)?

61.32 in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1996?

It is up 29.87% from 47.22 in 1996 (0.91% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 64.7 in 2023 and the lowest 44.65 in 2004.

How does Samoa rank?

54th highest of 205 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in control of Corruption - Governance score (0-100) unusual for Samoa?

In 2025, Samoa's control of Corruption - Governance score (0-100) rose 0.00362 on 2024 (from 61.32 to 61.32). Across the 22 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2024), the average change was +0.67 and a typical year strayed about 2.9 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG), uri: https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators, note: Detailed documentation of the WGI, interactive tools for exploring the data, and full….

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GOV_WGI_CC_SC, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: The Worldwide Governance Indicators: Revised Methodology for Measuring Governance Using Perception Data., World Bank Group (WBG), uri: https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators, note: Detailed documentation of the WGI, interactive tools for exploring the data, and full… Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.