Iran ranks 150 out of 180 countries in the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), one stop lower than last year, which weakens its struggling economy.

According to the annual list released by Transparency International on Tuesday, the Islamic Republic scored 25 on a scale of zero to 100, where zero means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean.

Each country’s score is drawn from 13 different corruption surveys and assessments by a variety of reputable institutions, including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

The CPI, the most widely used global corruption ranking in the world, assesses countries and territories annually on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be by experts.

It covers manifestations of public sector corruption, including the misuse of public power for private benefit without facing consequences, bribery, diversion of public funds, nepotistic appointments, and access to information on public affairs/government activities.

In 2013, the last year of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidential tenure, Iran was 144th among 177 countries. It rose to 130 in 2017, suggesting a decline in corruption, but has dropped again since then.

Iranian authorities routinely criticize corruption in the country, with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei having issued an anti-corruption decree, demanding the heads of the three branches of government not slacken in efforts against graft.