The index that measures the measurer

Transparency indices carry a known problem: they are built, to a considerable extent, by the very institution being assessed. That does not invalidate them, but it does require reading them carefully and stating out loud what they measure and what they do not. The Defense Sector's Anti-Corruption Index measures compliance with a set of management standards — controls, procedures, disclosure, reporting channels — not the volume of corruption that actually occurred. It is a thermometer for the prevention system, not a count of offenses.

What the number says

That said, the movement is substantial. The index rose from 64.43% in 2024 to 83.33% in 2025, a change of 30%. The two figures are worth keeping apart, because they look alike and measure different things: 83.33% is the level the index reached, and 30% is how much it grew against the previous year. Reading the first as though it were the second would suggest the sector nearly doubled its performance, when what it did was improve by roughly a third. That remains a strong result. It does not need inflating.

A number that comes back every year

The value of an index like this lies not in a single year's snapshot but in the obligation to repeat it. A sector that submits to an annual assessment of its own controls accepts that the result will be recorded, made comparable and left available to anyone who wants to check it — including in the years when the result is unflattering. That recurrence is what turns a commitment into an indicator: each new measurement is read against the last, and none can be explained on its own.