Money Laundering Rates by Country 2026

Money laundering is a critical financial crime that enables other criminal activities by disguising the origins of illegally obtained money. This analysis presents money laundering rates per 100,000 population across 67 countries, based on official data reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

[TABLE2|title=Money Laundering Rates by Country Per 100k Population]

What is Money Laundering?

Money laundering is the process of making illegally obtained money appear legitimate. It typically involves three stages:

• Placement – Introducing illegal funds into the financial system
• Layering – Disguising the trail through complex transactions
• Integration – Returning the "cleaned" money to the criminal

Common methods include shell companies, real estate purchases, casino transactions, and cryptocurrency transfers.

Important Note on Interpreting This Data

Money laundering statistics reflect detection and prosecution capabilities rather than actual laundering activity. Countries with sophisticated financial monitoring systems, strong anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, and dedicated financial crime units report higher rates. Major financial centers naturally detect more cases due to higher transaction volumes. Low rates often indicate limited enforcement capacity rather than absence of money laundering.

Key Findings

Liechtenstein leads with 178 cases per 100,000 population in 2022, reflecting its position as a major financial center with strict AML enforcement. Sweden (143) and Denmark (100) follow, showing strong Nordic enforcement.

Switzerland (42.66), known for its banking sector, shows moderate rates indicating active monitoring. Iceland (41.01) and Belgium (35.12) also rank high among European nations.

Germany's rate increased significantly from 10.69 in 2020 to 26.89 in 2022, reflecting intensified enforcement following several high-profile banking scandals.

Singapore dropped dramatically from 9.54 in 2020 to 1.82 in 2022, possibly indicating changes in classification or successful deterrence measures.

Major economies show varying rates: France (4.36), Italy (2.62), Canada (0.69), and Japan (0.58). The United States is notably absent from the dataset.

Money Laundering Rates by Country Per 100k Population

Download

Excel (.xlsx) CSV PDF PNG

#	Country	2020	2021	2022
1	Liechtenstein	150	161	178
2	Sweden	89.85	101	143
3	Denmark	20.3	43.66	100
4	Switzerland	35.53	41.35	42.66
5	Iceland	78.56	69.24	41.01
6	Belgium	52.8	55.46	35.12
7	Grenada	37.82	51.42	35.07
8	Germany	10.69	17.66	26.89
9	Latvia	21.83	22.38	24.83
10	Malta	20.65	34.33	24.61
11	Albania	14.52	13.76	16.8
12	Finland	10.74	12.63	16.63
13	Hong Kong	14.55	11.56	13.57
14	Ireland	12.52	16.57	10.67
15	Netherlands	11.03	13.99	8.57
16	Austria	5.91	8.27	8.33
17	Czech Republic	5.27	5.36	6.47
18	Saint Kitts and Nevis	4.27	8.55	6.42
19	Hungary	3.09	3.62	5.5
20	Bahamas	6.06	6.81	5.03
21	Costa Rica	3.48	5.49	4.55
22	Slovenia	3.28	2.79	4.4
23	France	3.19	4.1	4.36
24	Macau	1.32	2.88	4.26
25	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.33	-	3.56
26	United Arab Emirates	-	-	3.48
27	Norway	2.92	3.4	3.45
28	Barbados	6.39	0.35	2.83
29	Poland	1.7	2.23	2.75
30	Serbia	1.65	3.31	2.68
31	Italy	3.5	2.82	2.62
32	Slovakia	1.41	1.52	2.3
33	Croatia	0.53	1.32	2.02
34	Guatemala	2.2	2.02	1.85
35	Singapore	9.54	9.11	1.82
36	Panama	2.17	2.39	1.8
37	Romania	1.24	1.35	1.69
38	Estonia	1.58	1.35	1.48
39	Lithuania	2.97	1.5	1.35
40	Morocco	0	-	1.32
41	Greece	0.36	0.76	1.18
42	Colombia	1.41	1.26	0.98
43	Bolivia	0.18	0.5	0.94
44	Spain	0.65	0.72	0.86
45	Paraguay	-	0.58	0.75
46	Canada	0.68	0.92	0.69
47	Bulgaria	0.69	0.64	0.6
48	Japan	0.48	0.5	0.58
49	Portugal	0.45	0.49	0.47
50	Mexico	0.58	0.56	0.43
51	El Salvador	0.48	0.26	0.37
52	Ecuador	0.35	0.36	0.35
53	Montenegro	6.58	1.66	0.33
54	Palestine	0.75	0.6	0.28
55	Thailand	0.31	0.24	0.25
56	Oman	0.13	-	0.23
57	Myanmar	0.01	-	0.04
58	Chile	0.04	0.04	0.01
59	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1.93	0.97	0
60	Dominica	8.88	0	0
61	Russia	1.62	-	-
62	Mongolia	0.82	-	-
63	Trinidad and Tobago	0.81	-	-
64	Botswana	0.76	-	-
65	Ukraine	0.41	-	-
66	Kosovo	0.23	-	-
67	Azerbaijan	0.05	-	-

Data Source

• Source: UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) – Corruption and Economic Crime Statistics
• Unit: Rate per 100,000 population
• Years covered: 2020, 2021, 2022
• Countries included: 67 countries with available data