The level of corruption in Venezuela is very high by world standards and is prevalent throughout many levels of Venezuelan society.[1] Discovery of oil in Venezuela in the early 20th century worsened political corruption.[2] The large amount of corruption and mismanagement in the country has resulted in severe economic difficulties, part of the crisis in Venezuela.[3] A 2014 Gallup poll found that 75% of Venezuelans believed that corruption was widespread throughout the Venezuelan government.[4] Discontent with corruption was cited by demonstrators as one of the reasons for the 2014 and 2017 Venezuelan protests.[5]
According to Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, Venezuela scored 13 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Venezuela ranked 177th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.[6] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180).[7] For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among the countries of the Americas[Note 1] was 76, the average score was 43 and the lowest score was Venezuela's, 13.[8]
In 2023, Transparencia Venezuela announced that the amount of money in judicial cases of 26 different countries investigating government corruption amounted to at least $70 billion dollars.[9]
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