RENUKA RAI | Thimphu
Bhutan has achieved its second-highest National Integrity Score since the assessment was first introduced in 2009, signalling strong performance in public sector integrity and low levels of direct corruption.
However, growing concerns over favouritism, ethical leadership and declining public trust indicate that significant challenges remain beneath the surface.
The findings were presented on 26 during the launch of the Sixth National Integrity Assessment (NIA) 2025 Report by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
The assessment awarded Bhutan an overall National Integrity Score of 8.16 out of 10, categorised as “Good”. The Public Sector Integrity Score stood at 8.41, indicating a “Very Good” level of integrity, while the Parliamentarians’ Integrity Score was rated at 7.15, or “Satisfactory”. The score of 8.16 is the country’s second-highest since the inception of the assessment, surpassed only by the score of 8.37 recorded in 2012.
Conducted every three years, the NIA is Bhutan’s largest integrity assessment exercise and has evolved over the past 17 years into an important diagnostic tool for governance reforms and corruption prevention efforts. The 2025 assessment covered 381 public services delivered by 99 agencies across 13 institutional categories and drew on the views of 17,896 respondents, including service users, public servants, parliamentarians and voters.
Launching the report, Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay said the world is witnessing growing conflicts, divisions and uncertainty, much of which stems from declining trust in institutions and leadership.
“Yet no society can prosper without trust,” he said, adding that trust creates stability, strengthens communities and enables progress.
The PM said trust is built on one foundation: integrity. He stressed that integrity goes beyond the absence of corruption and encompasses fairness, accountability, professionalism and responsibility.
“People do not judge institutions by policies alone; they judge them by their experiences,” he said. “When services are delivered fairly and efficiently, confidence grows. When institutions are transparent and accountable, confidence grows.”
Describing the NIA as more than a collection of scores and rankings, the Prime Minister said the report serves as “a mirror”.
“It allows us to look honestly at ourselves. It helps us understand what we are doing well, identify where improvement is needed, and provides us with the evidence required to strengthen our institutions,” he said.
He urged institutions not to regard the findings as criticism but as guidance for improvement.”The strength of an institution is not measured by the absence of challenges. It is measured by its willingness to confront those challenges and improve,” PM said.
He called on all public agencies to use the report as a roadmap for strengthening governance, improving public service delivery and reinforcing integrity across institutions.
While the overall findings were encouraging, the report also highlighted several areas of concern.
According to the ACC, experiences of direct corruption remain extremely low, indicating that public institutions continue to deliver services with a high degree of transparency and fairness. However, perceptions of corruption remain considerably higher, with many Bhutanese believing that corruption is widespread and increasing, particularly in the form of nepotism, favouritism and informal influence.
The report described this as a “trust deficit”, where institutional performance has improved but public belief in integrity has failed to keep pace.
It further noted that corruption in Bhutan is evolving from traditional forms of transactional bribery to more relationship-based and influence-driven practices, presenting new challenges for governance and accountability.
ACC officials said the findings indicate that the next frontier of integrity lies not only in preventing corruption but also in strengthening institutional culture and public confidence in government institutions.
One of the key concerns highlighted by the assessment was ethical leadership.The Ethical Leadership Index received a score of 7.62 and emerged as an area requiring attention. According to the ACC, perceptions of fairness in human resource management and professional development remain moderate, while evidence of hierarchical pressure within organizations points to deeper concerns regarding organizational culture and leadership accountability.
The report also pointed to weaknesses in internal corruption control systems. Protection for whistleblowers received one of the lowest ratings, suggesting concerns over the adequacy of safeguards for individuals who report wrongdoing.
The Parliamentarians’ Integrity Index showed improvement since the previous assessment, rising to 7.15. While direct corruption in Parliament remains limited, concerns are increasingly shifting toward informal influence and favouritism. The assessment also pointed to a persistent transparency and accountability gap, including concerns over constituency engagement and monitoring of development activities.
Speaking at the launch, the ACC Chairperson Pema Choden said the findings send a clear message that public institutions must not only be clean in practice but must also be perceived by citizens as fair, impartial and accountable.
The Chairperson called on leaders of all public agencies to take ownership of the findings and use them as an opportunity for meaningful institutional reform rather than as a mere compliance exercise.
Quoting His Majesty the King during the event, the ACC reminded public servants of their responsibility to learn from mistakes, remain accountable and be receptive to feedback and new ideas.
Looking ahead, the PM emphasised that integrity is not merely an institutional responsibility but a national one.
“The future of Bhutan will depend on the values that we uphold today. The example we set today will shape the institutions that future generations inherit tomorrow,” he said.
The report concludes that Bhutan’s integrity system remains externally strong but internally uneven and increasingly strained by favouritism, weak internal controls and declining trust. It recommends that future anti-corruption efforts shift from focusing primarily on visible bribery to strengthening internal governance, improving accountability and addressing systemic, relationship-based corruption.
As Bhutan celebrates one of its highest integrity scores to date, the message emerging from the latest assessment is clear: maintaining public trust will require not only clean institutions but also stronger ethical leadership, greater fairness and a renewed commitment to integrity at every level of society.
