Latest benchmarking
Governance Benchmarks 2025 report – independence amid turbulence
The Governance Benchmarks 2025 report reveals new detail this year on elements of central bank independence. Central banks generally gave their independence high scores across the board, but see greater problems with human resources, legal protections for officials and the range of their mandates. Elsewhere, the benchmarks highlight possible drawbacks in central bank capital frameworks that could expose some institutions to pressure. Wider data sheds light on board composition, governor salaries, audit processes and more.
Governance Benchmarks 2025 – model banks analysis
Data breakdown highlights independence pressures, capital frameworks and staffing challenges
Central banks report high levels of independence
Institutions across regions and income groups report significant autonomy from political interference
Benchmarking
Salary still poses greatest challenge for recruitment
Staff morale constitutes lowest constraint but is a concern for some central banks
Over 40% of central banks lack formal recapitalisation agreement
Ten banks were recapitalised in the past year
Inter-bank working groups
Facilitating connections between central bankers across the globe to promote the exchange of expertise and support collaboration.
Upcoming meetings include: Cyber risk management, social media in communications and upgrading forecast models.
Charts
Breaking down independence
The Governance Benchmarks 2025 breaks down central bank independence into 10 key areas, with independence rated one to five, with five being full independence. Average scores are high across the board, though some individual central banks report problems in particular areas.
For the full breakdown, use the benchmarking service’s interactive charts to explore the data.
Reports
Governance Benchmarks 2025 report – independence amid turbulence
Fintech Benchmarks 2025 report – supervising security
Risk Management Benchmarks 2025 report – mind the techno-political gap
Economics Benchmarks 2024 report – making models work
Currency Benchmarks 2024 report – securing cash payments
Benchmarks
Communications
Currency
Economics
Financial Stability
Fintech
Governance
Monetary Policy
Payments
Reserves
Risk Management
Governance Benchmarks 2025 – executive summary
Data shows strong independence with threats in some areas, and sheds light on staffing, mandates and more
Some central banks report pressure to change monetary policy
Central banks mention financial and political factors impacting independence
One in five central banks pays unrealised gains to government
Most central banks have a formal agreement in place for sharing profits with government
Two-thirds of central banks regularly audit policy processes
Internal and external audit functions are combined in most jurisdictions