Basel Institute on Governance
Basel AML Index 2025
This is the 14th annual Public Edition report of the Basel AML Index, an independent, data-based ranking and risk assessment tool for money laundering and related financial crime risks around the world.
The Basel AML Index provides risk scores for jurisdictions based on data from 17 publicly accessible sources such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Transparency International and the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime. The risk scores cover five domains considered to contribute to a high money laundering risk:
- Quality of AML/CFT/CPF framework
- Corruption and fraud risks
- Financial transparency and standards
- Public transparency and accountability
- Political and legal risks
Key messages and trends in 2025
1. The 2025 Public Edition includes 177 countries and jurisdictions. Myanmar, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo receive the highest risk scores, while Finland, Iceland and San Marino have the lowest.
2. The global average risk score decreased marginally from 5.30 to 5.28, a statistically insignificant change. More than half of jurisdictions improved their scores, while 43 percent worsened. Overall, results indicate a levelling-out of global money laundering risk, with improvements in some higher-risk jurisdictions offset by declines among traditionally lower-risk countries.
3. Results across risk domains are mixed. There are modest improvements in the quality of AML/CFT/CPF frameworks and small reductions in corruption risks, alongside weaker financial transparency, growing concerns over public accountability and continued regional variation in political and legal risks.
4. The report also examines emerging challenges, including approaches to identifying lower-risk jurisdictions and assessing structural vulnerabilities related to virtual assets. It highlights the continued importance of addressing underlying weaknesses – such as corruption, weak supervision and poor enforcement – that enable financial crime across both traditional and virtual asset sectors.
The Basel AML Index is developed and maintained by the Basel Institute on Governance through its International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR).