Global Organized Crime Index
In 2021, GI-TOC released the first index ever designed to measure organized crime at a global scale. GI-TOC stands for the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, a network of experts focused specifically on this challenge. The index evaluates how deeply crime has taken hold in each country and how capable each state is of fighting back. Every assessed country receives a numerical ranking based on both factors.
Africa provided the testing ground. In 2019, the ENACT Organised Crime Index applied a similar method to the continent. GI-TOC built its global version on that regional proof of concept. What the methodology involves, who finances the effort, and what the data has since revealed are the questions this documentary works through.
Drug trafficking, human trafficking, and cybercrime are among the criminal activities the index groups under its criminality category. That category measures how deeply such operations have taken root in a country. Alongside it, the resilience category assesses a government's capacity to push back, covering governance quality, law enforcement strength, and engagement with international cooperation. Each indicator in both categories is weighted and scored before being merged into a composite figure.
Official statistics, expert surveys, media reports, and data from international organizations all supply the raw material for those scores. A higher composite signals a country where organized crime is more prevalent and defensive capacity weaker. The index is published in several languages, extending GI-TOC's reach to policymakers and researchers beyond any single linguistic community.
The US Department of State, the European Union, and the government of Norway are among the index's financial supporters. Interpol and ISS provide additional institutional backing. The funding is described as partial, meaning GI-TOC draws from several sources rather than a single sponsor.
In the 2023 edition, country scores ranged from a high of 8.15 to a low of 1.54. That range shows how widely crime levels and state capacity vary across the countries assessed. The second edition was also the first opportunity to compare each country against its result in the original publication, tracking change over two years of data. One entry moved from 7.59 at the first publication to 8.15 in 2023, a climb of more than half a point across two editions. That trajectory illustrates the kind of longitudinal tracking the index was built to enable.
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Common questions
What does the Global Organized Crime Index measure?
The Global Organized Crime Index measures the prevalence of organized crime in each country and each country's capacity to resist it. It covers criminal activities including drug trafficking, human trafficking, and cybercrime, and assesses government responses through governance, law enforcement, and international cooperation.
Who created the Global Organized Crime Index?
The Global Organized Crime Index was created by GI-TOC, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, a network of experts dedicated to addressing organized crime globally.
When was the Global Organized Crime Index first published?
The Global Organized Crime Index was first published in 2021. A second edition followed in 2023 and recorded a slight increase in the global score.
Who funds the Global Organized Crime Index?
The Global Organized Crime Index is partially funded by the US Department of State, the European Union, and the government of Norway. Interpol and ISS also provide institutional support.
What were the highest and lowest scores in the 2023 Global Organized Crime Index?
In the 2023 edition, the highest country score was 8.15 and the lowest was 1.54. These figures show the wide variation in organized crime levels and state resilience across assessed countries.
What index was the Global Organized Crime Index based on?
The Global Organized Crime Index was based on the 2019 ENACT Organised Crime Index for Africa. GI-TOC adapted that regional methodology into a global tool, publishing the first worldwide edition in 2021.
All sources
8 references cited across the entry
- 1The world has its first nations on UN organized crime indexShiva Singh — 2021-10-01
- 3Global Organized Crime Index 2021Lindsey Mastrangelo — 2021-09-29