Corruption in Italy
Corruption in Italy is a major problem. In Transparency International's annual surveys, Italy has consistently been regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the Eurozone. Political corruption remains a major problem, particularly in Lombardy, Campania, and Sicily, where corruption perception is at a high level. Political parties are ranked the most corrupt institution in Italy, closely followed by public officials and Parliament, according to Transparency International. But in the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer report, Italy is in 17th position in front of the United Kingdom (18th), Switzerland (21st) and the United States (22nd).
Regarding business and corruption, foreign investments and economic growth are hindered by organized crime and corruption. Business executives from the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2013–2014 consider corruption one of the problems for doing business in Italy. The procurement process, mainly in water, roads and railway projects, in Italy is affected by corruption.
According to Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2013, 89% of surveyed households consider political parties to be corrupt or extremely corrupt—ranking as the most corrupt institution in Italy. Furthermore, 64% of the surveyed households believe that the level of corruption has increased and 61% of surveyed households find government efforts in the fight against corruption to be ineffective.
Italian culture has been described as being characterized by "an ambiguous attitude to graft". A 2015 Al Jazeera report noted that clientelism and graft have long been cornerstones of the country's political establishment, and a Forbes contributor wrote in 2016 about "the deep-seated nature of unsavoury elements in both private and public sectors" in Italy. "Many Italians", maintained a 2010 report, have accepted corruption and poor governance as part of their lives. However, a 2015 report challenged this generally accepted view, arguing that "corruption in Italy does not seem to be a cultural issue" and that Italians consistently believe corrupt practices are less acceptable than other European nations.
The Mafia plays a key role in both public and private corruption. Arising "out of business deals", as Forbes put it, the Mafia historically "acted as a guarantor for contracts, when the judiciary was viewed as weak. Until relatively recent history, almost every deal in the country was enforced by a 'man of honor.'"
One source has described the web of corruption involving politics, business, and the Mafia as "an unholy triangle," adding that it could alternatively be seen as a rectangle, with the Catholic Church being a fourth major participant in the web of corruption, owing to links between the Mafia and Vatican Bank and to "complex money laundering systems" involving banks that manage church funds.
L'Aquila earthquake
After a 1968 earthquake in Sicily, most of the funds appropriated to replace housing went to "needless construction projects," a fact that underscored the scale of Italian corruption and the influence of the Mafia. Similarly, the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, in which over 300 people died, was described as a "stark reminder to Italians of the risks they take by tolerating a corrupt political system." Franco Barberi, head of an Italian committee assessing earthquake risks, alleged that anywhere where corruption had not undermined safety measures, a similar earthquake would have resulted in no fatalities.
Tangentopoli
A 1992–1994 corruption scandal called Tangentopoli ("Bribe City"), uncovered by the so-called Mani pulite ("Clean hands") investigation, "rocked Italy to its core" and brought down the First Republic. But the probes "fizzled out" and the bribery just got worse.
The political impact of Mani Pulite remains the worst scandal of all modern Italy. The public outrage over the corruption led to "the sudden extinction" of five different political factions that had controlled Italy's government since 1946. A new political establishment took their place, but corruption resumed.
One target of the 1992 through 1994 corruption probes was Gianstefano Frigerio [it], then a Christian Democrat MP. During 1992–1994, he was the defendant in four trials; one case fell afoul of the statute of limitations, but in the remaining three cases he was found guilty. He managed to have his six-year prison sentence reduced, then turned into a community service sentence, wherein his public service in the Parliament had been deemed acceptable community service. He was then re-elected to parliament in 2001, and arrested again in 2014 for participation in the massive corruption scheme surrounding the Expo in Milan.
It is widely believed that two judges, Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone, were murdered in 1992 because of their efforts to punish corrupt ties between the Mafia and politicians.
On Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index Italy scored 53 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Italy ranked 52nd among the 182 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with regional scores, the best score among Western European and European Union countries was 89, the average score was 64 and the worst score was 40.[20] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 89 (ranked 1), the average score was 42, and the worst score was 9 (ranked 181, in a two-way tie).
In 2012, 65% of Italians told Transparency International that they thought corruption had intensified during the previous three years. In April 2016, Italian Court of Cassation judge Piercamillo Davigo, who had prosecuted widespread political corruption in the 1990s, also expressed the view that corruption had grown worse since then. "The politicians haven't stopped stealing, they've stopped being ashamed of it," he said. "Now they blatantly claim a right to do what they used to do secretly."
Nicola Gratteri, an anti-mafia prosecutor, shared Davigo's view that the level of political corruption had heightened. Gratteri noted that twenty years prior, it was common practice for mob bosses to ask politicians for favors, but in recent years the politicians have sought the aid of mob bosses in return for public contracts.
A 2013 report in The Guardian identified "organised crime and corruption" as one of six problems currently facing Italy. The Mafia, once confined largely to the south, now operated nationwide and had spread beyond drug trafficking and prostitution to transport, public health, and other industries.
Since 2000, Italy has experienced perceived corruption levels on par with post-Soviet, Eastern European transition nations.
Italian public officials routinely have close ties to organized crime and to businesses. Italian citizens consider political parties and parliament itself to be the nation's two most corrupt institutions.
Corruption is common in Italy's public services sector. Doing business in Italy is complicated by inefficient government bureaucracies and burdensome rules, and almost half of Italians believe that the issuance of business permits involves bribes and abuse of power. Because of corruption, it takes almost six years to complete a major public works project in Italy, and such projects cost four times as much as elsewhere in Europe.
On 3 May 1999, the Italian Parliament passed a bill that for the first time gave to the public administrations the faculty of recruiting their human resources through a competitive examination (Italian: concorso per soli titoli) exclusively based on the previous background of the candidates in terms of academic titles and working CVs, without the provision of any written nor oral test.
In 2002, the Berlusconi government "virtually abolished the crime of false accounting", a move that caused a growth in corruption and Mafia crime.
As of 2012, Filippo Penati, a PD politician, was being investigated for corruption, specifically bribery. So was PdL party member Marco Mario Milanese [it], whose fellow party members in parliament managed to prevent his arrest.
Industry Minister Federica Guidi resigned in March 2016 when evidence emerged that she sought to help her boyfriend's business by helping to pass a certain budget amendment. Her boyfriend, Gianluca Gemelli, faced charges of corruption and influence peddling in the so-called Basilicata case.
In July 2024, Italian lawmakers voted to decriminalize the crime of abuse of office. Critics of the new legislation have said that citizens reporting public corruption will no longer be protected by the law.
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi (1936–2023), billionaire, media mogul, and prime minister of Italy for three periods (1994–1995, 2001–2006, and 2008–2011), was frequently accused of corruption. His firms have been charged with such crimes as bribery and false invoicing, and Berlusconi himself has widely been rumored to have had Mafia ties. In 2011, the U.S. State Department named Berlusconi as participating in the "commercial sexual exploitation of a Moroccan child".
Convicted of tax fraud in 2012, he was removed from the Italian Senate after the Supreme Court confirmed the verdict the next year, but not imprisoned. In June 2013 he was found guilty of paying a teenage girl for sex, and of abusing his political power, but the verdict was overturned in 2014.
Public procurement
The government procurement system is characterized by a high level of corruption. This is particularly true where infrastructure contracts are concerned. In such cases, the Mafia is very likely to be involved and favoritism will almost inevitably play a part in the awarding of contracts. In recent years, most of the high-profile corruption cases in Italy have involved government procurement. In 2015, one in three public contracts involved irregularities.
Contracts for Expo 2015, a fair in Milan, became the subject of a major anti-corruption investigation in which seven officials were arrested as of April 2015. Venice's mayor and over 30 other public officials were arrested in 2015 for accepting bribes in exchange for building contracts. In the same year, several businessmen were taken into custody on charges of belonging to "a gang involved in kickbacks and dodgy contracts" for high-speed rail lines, Expo 2015, a flood barrier in Venice, and other large-scale projects. Among those who had received kickbacks was Infrastructure and Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi, who was forced to resign.
Data from the he Italian government’s Antimafia Investigative Directorate (DIA), shows that 38% of all the anti-mafia measures taken in Italy in 2024 were related to the construction sector, when about 200 public works sites were investigated for suspected infiltration by organised crime.
Judiciary
The Italian courts are slow and inefficient. Almost half of citizens surveyed view the system as corrupt, and many think that bribes and abuse of power are common.
Police
Experts view the Italian police as being relatively free of corruption and respectful of the law. About a third of Italians, however, consider the police to be corrupt.
Land administration
There is a degree of corruption in Italian land administration. Over half of citizens think that officials issuing building permits commit bribery and abuse of power.
Tax system
The tax system lacks transparency and involves considerable bribery. Most firms view the tax rates as problematic.
Customs service
There is a degree of corruption in the customs system.
Regarding business and corruption, foreign investments and economic growth are hindered by organized crime and corruption. Business executives from the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2013–2014 consider corruption one of the problems for doing business in Italy. The procurement process, mainly in water, roads and railway projects, in Italy is affected by corruption.
According to Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2013, 89% of surveyed households consider political parties to be corrupt or extremely corrupt—ranking as the most corrupt institution in Italy. Furthermore, 64% of the surveyed households believe that the level of corruption has increased and 61% of surveyed households find government efforts in the fight against corruption to be ineffective.
Italian culture has been described as being characterized by "an ambiguous attitude to graft". A 2015 Al Jazeera report noted that clientelism and graft have long been cornerstones of the country's political establishment, and a Forbes contributor wrote in 2016 about "the deep-seated nature of unsavoury elements in both private and public sectors" in Italy. "Many Italians", maintained a 2010 report, have accepted corruption and poor governance as part of their lives. However, a 2015 report challenged this generally accepted view, arguing that "corruption in Italy does not seem to be a cultural issue" and that Italians consistently believe corrupt practices are less acceptable than other European nations.
The Mafia plays a key role in both public and private corruption. Arising "out of business deals", as Forbes put it, the Mafia historically "acted as a guarantor for contracts, when the judiciary was viewed as weak. Until relatively recent history, almost every deal in the country was enforced by a 'man of honor.'"
One source has described the web of corruption involving politics, business, and the Mafia as "an unholy triangle," adding that it could alternatively be seen as a rectangle, with the Catholic Church being a fourth major participant in the web of corruption, owing to links between the Mafia and Vatican Bank and to "complex money laundering systems" involving banks that manage church funds.
L'Aquila earthquake
After a 1968 earthquake in Sicily, most of the funds appropriated to replace housing went to "needless construction projects," a fact that underscored the scale of Italian corruption and the influence of the Mafia. Similarly, the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, in which over 300 people died, was described as a "stark reminder to Italians of the risks they take by tolerating a corrupt political system." Franco Barberi, head of an Italian committee assessing earthquake risks, alleged that anywhere where corruption had not undermined safety measures, a similar earthquake would have resulted in no fatalities.
Tangentopoli
A 1992–1994 corruption scandal called Tangentopoli ("Bribe City"), uncovered by the so-called Mani pulite ("Clean hands") investigation, "rocked Italy to its core" and brought down the First Republic. But the probes "fizzled out" and the bribery just got worse.
The political impact of Mani Pulite remains the worst scandal of all modern Italy. The public outrage over the corruption led to "the sudden extinction" of five different political factions that had controlled Italy's government since 1946. A new political establishment took their place, but corruption resumed.
One target of the 1992 through 1994 corruption probes was Gianstefano Frigerio [it], then a Christian Democrat MP. During 1992–1994, he was the defendant in four trials; one case fell afoul of the statute of limitations, but in the remaining three cases he was found guilty. He managed to have his six-year prison sentence reduced, then turned into a community service sentence, wherein his public service in the Parliament had been deemed acceptable community service. He was then re-elected to parliament in 2001, and arrested again in 2014 for participation in the massive corruption scheme surrounding the Expo in Milan.
It is widely believed that two judges, Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone, were murdered in 1992 because of their efforts to punish corrupt ties between the Mafia and politicians.
On Transparency International's 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index Italy scored 53 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Italy ranked 52nd among the 182 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with regional scores, the best score among Western European and European Union countries was 89, the average score was 64 and the worst score was 40.[20] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 89 (ranked 1), the average score was 42, and the worst score was 9 (ranked 181, in a two-way tie).
In 2012, 65% of Italians told Transparency International that they thought corruption had intensified during the previous three years. In April 2016, Italian Court of Cassation judge Piercamillo Davigo, who had prosecuted widespread political corruption in the 1990s, also expressed the view that corruption had grown worse since then. "The politicians haven't stopped stealing, they've stopped being ashamed of it," he said. "Now they blatantly claim a right to do what they used to do secretly."
Nicola Gratteri, an anti-mafia prosecutor, shared Davigo's view that the level of political corruption had heightened. Gratteri noted that twenty years prior, it was common practice for mob bosses to ask politicians for favors, but in recent years the politicians have sought the aid of mob bosses in return for public contracts.
A 2013 report in The Guardian identified "organised crime and corruption" as one of six problems currently facing Italy. The Mafia, once confined largely to the south, now operated nationwide and had spread beyond drug trafficking and prostitution to transport, public health, and other industries.
Since 2000, Italy has experienced perceived corruption levels on par with post-Soviet, Eastern European transition nations.
Italian public officials routinely have close ties to organized crime and to businesses. Italian citizens consider political parties and parliament itself to be the nation's two most corrupt institutions.
Corruption is common in Italy's public services sector. Doing business in Italy is complicated by inefficient government bureaucracies and burdensome rules, and almost half of Italians believe that the issuance of business permits involves bribes and abuse of power. Because of corruption, it takes almost six years to complete a major public works project in Italy, and such projects cost four times as much as elsewhere in Europe.
On 3 May 1999, the Italian Parliament passed a bill that for the first time gave to the public administrations the faculty of recruiting their human resources through a competitive examination (Italian: concorso per soli titoli) exclusively based on the previous background of the candidates in terms of academic titles and working CVs, without the provision of any written nor oral test.
In 2002, the Berlusconi government "virtually abolished the crime of false accounting", a move that caused a growth in corruption and Mafia crime.
As of 2012, Filippo Penati, a PD politician, was being investigated for corruption, specifically bribery. So was PdL party member Marco Mario Milanese [it], whose fellow party members in parliament managed to prevent his arrest.
Industry Minister Federica Guidi resigned in March 2016 when evidence emerged that she sought to help her boyfriend's business by helping to pass a certain budget amendment. Her boyfriend, Gianluca Gemelli, faced charges of corruption and influence peddling in the so-called Basilicata case.
In July 2024, Italian lawmakers voted to decriminalize the crime of abuse of office. Critics of the new legislation have said that citizens reporting public corruption will no longer be protected by the law.
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi (1936–2023), billionaire, media mogul, and prime minister of Italy for three periods (1994–1995, 2001–2006, and 2008–2011), was frequently accused of corruption. His firms have been charged with such crimes as bribery and false invoicing, and Berlusconi himself has widely been rumored to have had Mafia ties. In 2011, the U.S. State Department named Berlusconi as participating in the "commercial sexual exploitation of a Moroccan child".
Convicted of tax fraud in 2012, he was removed from the Italian Senate after the Supreme Court confirmed the verdict the next year, but not imprisoned. In June 2013 he was found guilty of paying a teenage girl for sex, and of abusing his political power, but the verdict was overturned in 2014.
Public procurement
The government procurement system is characterized by a high level of corruption. This is particularly true where infrastructure contracts are concerned. In such cases, the Mafia is very likely to be involved and favoritism will almost inevitably play a part in the awarding of contracts. In recent years, most of the high-profile corruption cases in Italy have involved government procurement. In 2015, one in three public contracts involved irregularities.
Contracts for Expo 2015, a fair in Milan, became the subject of a major anti-corruption investigation in which seven officials were arrested as of April 2015. Venice's mayor and over 30 other public officials were arrested in 2015 for accepting bribes in exchange for building contracts. In the same year, several businessmen were taken into custody on charges of belonging to "a gang involved in kickbacks and dodgy contracts" for high-speed rail lines, Expo 2015, a flood barrier in Venice, and other large-scale projects. Among those who had received kickbacks was Infrastructure and Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi, who was forced to resign.
Data from the he Italian government’s Antimafia Investigative Directorate (DIA), shows that 38% of all the anti-mafia measures taken in Italy in 2024 were related to the construction sector, when about 200 public works sites were investigated for suspected infiltration by organised crime.
Judiciary
The Italian courts are slow and inefficient. Almost half of citizens surveyed view the system as corrupt, and many think that bribes and abuse of power are common.
Police
Experts view the Italian police as being relatively free of corruption and respectful of the law. About a third of Italians, however, consider the police to be corrupt.
Land administration
There is a degree of corruption in Italian land administration. Over half of citizens think that officials issuing building permits commit bribery and abuse of power.
Tax system
The tax system lacks transparency and involves considerable bribery. Most firms view the tax rates as problematic.
Customs service
There is a degree of corruption in the customs system.
31-35, F
