The 2025 DFI Transparency Index reveals broad-based improvements in transparency among development finance institutions (DFIs) over the last two years, but also highlights significant shortcomings, particularly in relation to impact, private capital mobilisation and climate finance. Released today by Publish What You Fund, during London Climate Action Week and only days before the start of the 4^th International Conference on Financing for Development, the Index is the only independent, comparative measure of transparency among the world’s leading DFIs.

The 2025 Index assessed 32 portfolios from 25 bilateral and multilateral DFIs, covering both sovereign and non-sovereign (private sector) operations. Together these organisations manage assets exceeding $2.15 trillion. The findings show that while transparency scores have improved on average since 2023, the overall level of disclosure remains insufficient to support accountability, informed investment, or meaningful stakeholder engagement.

Key findings include:

• Asian Development Bank (AsDB) ranked highest in the non-sovereign assessment, followed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and African Development Bank (AfDB).
• World Bank topped the sovereign transparency ratings, followed by AsDB and AfDB.
• British International Investment (BII) was the highest-ranked bilateral non-sovereign DFI, reflecting significant progress following targeted transparency reforms.
• The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) was the only DFI to see a drop in transparency, due to reduced disclosure of climate and impact information.
• Two DFIs – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) and IDB Invest – began disclosing private capital mobilisation (PCM) data at project level for the first time, marking important progress.
• Seven large bilateral DFIs, including China Development Bank, remain too opaque to assess.

While a growing number of DFIs have improved their data accessibility and standardisation, especially through the use of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Standard, many still fail to publish disaggregated climate finance or impact data, and few provide assurances of community engagement.

Gary Forster, CEO of Publish What You Fund, said:

“This second edition of the DFI Transparency Index shows what’s possible when institutions commit to openness. We’re encouraged to see DFIs like CAF, BII, and the World Bank make tangible progress in their transparency. But these gains must not obscure the fact that we still lack critical information on whether investments are mobilising private finance, achieving impact, or reaching the people they intend to serve. With DFIs set to play an even greater role in financing development and climate goals, the need for meaningful transparency is more urgent than ever.”

The 2025 DFI Transparency Index provides specific recommendations to all DFIs, including:

• Systematically publish disaggregated project-level data on private capital mobilisation and climate finance
• Disclose actual results to support assessments of impact
• Provide evidence of meaningful community engagement
• Increase publication of data in machine-readable and standardised formats

The 2025 DFI Transparency Index will be launched at an event hosted by ODI Global on Thursday 26 June at 2.30pm BST. You can register to join in London or online here.

The full results and methodology, including detailed profiles for each institution, are available here.

The full report can be found here.