Does religiosity influence corruption and sustainable development across countries?

Purpose This paper empirically analyses the nexus between religiosity, corruption and sustainable development across 52 countries. Design/methodology/approach The data were retrieved from the World Value Survey (WVS) for religiosity and corruption, and the Sustainable Development Index (SDI) proposed by Hickel (2020) has been used for the analysis. Partial least squares – structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) has been used to analyse the data and evaluate the research hypotheses. Findings The PLS-SEM analysis depicts a positive and significant impact of religiosity on corruption, implying that countries with high religiosity are likely to have high levels of corruption. However, religiosity has a significant and negative impact on the sustainable development index. Similarly, corruption also negatively and significantly impacts sustainable development across countries. Practical implications The study results provide insights on considering religiosity while devising a policy for anti-corruption and sustainable development that covers social, economic and ecological dimensions. Originality/value This study provides empirical knowledge by considering religiosity, corruption and sustainable development together. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2025-0083