World’s most ethical companies revealed as 138 firms make 2026 list

From tech giants and banks to pharma groups and consumer brands, 138 companies have made this year’s ethics ranking, with names including Sony, IBM, L’Oréal, Mastercard and PepsiCo

A total of 138 companies have been named on Ethisphere’s 2026 list of the world’s most ethical companies, spanning sectors from technology and banking to pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, retail and energy.

Among those recognised this year are Sony, Accenture, IBM, Dell Technologies, Mastercard, PepsiCo, L’Oréal, Intel, Verizon and Royal Caribbean Group, alongside dozens of insurers, banks, engineering groups, healthcare firms and industrial manufacturers.

The 2026 ranking covers companies across 40 industries in 17 countries, according to the full honouree list published by Ethisphere, which describes the programme as its 20th annual recognition of organisations leading on ethics, accountability and corporate integrity.

Long-running honourees include Aflac, Ecolab, International Paper, Kao Corporation, Milliken & Company and PepsiCo, all listed as 20-time honourees, while Accenture, JLL and John Deere each appear for the 19th time.

The list also includes a number of first-time honourees including Alcon, Amgen, Bunge, CME Group, Ferrara Candy Company, Gilead Sciences, Labcorp, Lear Corporation, Marvell, Motiva Infraestrutura de Mobilidade S.A., SANOFI and UST.

Ethisphere says the recognition is based on its “Ethics Quotient” framework, which uses more than 240 multiple-choice and open-ended questions alongside supporting documentation and, where necessary, independent research and follow-up.

Companies are assessed across five weighted categories: ethics and compliance, environmental and social impact, culture of ethics, governance, and third-party management.

This year’s list remains heavily weighted towards North American companies, though Europe, Asia and Latin America are also represented.

Technology names include Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc, IBM, Nokia, Verizon, WD and Workday, while software and services honourees include Autodesk, Infosys, Salesforce, ServiceNow and UST.

In finance, the list includes BMO, Fifth Third Bank, Lincoln Financial, Prudential Financial, TIAA, U.S. Bank, Visa and Mastercard. Healthcare and life sciences groups recognised this year include Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Medtronic, Zimmer Biomet, Gilead Sciences, Lonza Group and HCA Healthcare.

Industrial and engineering presence is also strong, with AECOM, AtkinsRéalis, Eaton, Honeywell, John Deere, Johnson Controls, Parsons Corporation, Schneider Electric, Trane Technologies and United States Steel Corporation all included.

Sony, which received its eight honour, said the recognition reflected its “commitment to its Purpose and to delivering Kando through creativity and technology”, adding that the group’s approach was guided by its long-term “Creative Entertainment Vision” and the ethical conduct of employees across the business.

It added: “Being recognized as one of Ethisphere’s World Most Ethical Companies inspires us to further enhance Sony’s Ethics and Compliance program guided by our Code of Conduct and our ethical culture, to create value from a long-term perspective.”

Full list of world’s most ethical companies 2026

A. O. Smith — United States — Industrial Manufacturing — 3-Time Honoree
Accenture — Ireland — Consulting Services — 19-Time Honoree
ADM — United States — Food, Beverage & Agriculture — 7-Time Honoree
AECOM — United States — Engineering Services — 10-Time Honoree
AES — United States — Energy & Utilities — 13-Time Honoree
Aflac Incorporated — United States — Accident & Life Insurance — 20-Time Honoree
Alcon — Switzerland — Biotechnology — 1-Time Honoree
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America — United States — Accident & Life Insurance — 7-Time Honoree
Allstate — United States — Property & Casualty Insurance — 12-Time Honoree
Amgen Inc. — United States — Biotechnology — 1-Time Honoree
Anywhere Real Estate Inc. (now part of Compass International Holdings as of Jan. 9, 2026) — United States — Real Estate — 15-Time Honoree
Aptiv PLC — Switzerland — Automotive — 14-Time Honoree
Assurant — United States — Insurance — 3-Time Honoree
AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. — Canada — Engineering Services — 1-Time Honoree
Autodesk Inc. — United States — Software & Services — 3-Time Honoree
Avangrid — United States — Energy & Utilities — 8-Time Honoree
Best Buy Co., Inc. — United States — Retail — 12-Time Honoree
BMO — Canada — Banks — 9-Time Honoree
Booz Allen — United States — Consulting Services — 7-Time Honoree
Bunge — United States — Food, Beverage & Agriculture — 1-Time Honoree
Capgemini — France — Consulting Services — 14-Time Honoree
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield — United States — Health Insurance — 14-Time Honoree
Carter’s Inc. — United States — Retail — 1-Time Honoree
CBRE — United States — Real Estate — 13-Time Honoree
Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V. — Mexico — Construction & Building Materials — 2-Time Honoree
Charoen Pokphand Group — Thailand — Food, Beverage & Agriculture — 6-Time Honoree
CHS Inc. — United States — Food, Beverage & Agriculture — 2-Time Honoree
Clarios — United States — Automotive — 4-Time Honoree
CME Group — United States — Financial Services — 1-Time Honoree
Cognizant Technology Solutions — United States — Consulting Services — 2-Time Honoree
Colgate Palmolive — United States — Consumer Products — 16-Time Honoree
Compass Group PLC — United Kingdom — Food Service — 1-Time Honoree
Cummins Inc. — United States — Automotive — 17-Time Honoree
Dell Technologies — United States — Technology — 14-Time Honoree
DocGo — United States — Healthcare Providers — 1-Time Honoree
Eaton — United States — Industrial Manufacturing — 15-Time Honoree
Ecolab Inc. — United States — Chemicals — 20-Time Honoree
EDP, SA — Portugal — Energy & Utilities — 15-Time Honoree
Eli Lilly and Company — United States — Pharmaceuticals — 10-Time Honoree
FedEx Corporation — United States — Transportation/Trucking/Railroad — 4-Time Honoree
Ferrara Candy Company — United States — Food, Beverage & Agriculture — 1-Time Honoree
Ferrer — Spain — Pharmaceuticals — 1-Time Honoree
Fifth Third Bank — United States — Banks — 7-Time Honoree
Flex — United States — Industrial Manufacturing — 4-Time Honoree
Fortive Corporation — United States — Industrial Manufacturing — 2-Time Honoree
FRONTERA ENERGY — Canada — Oil and Gas, Renewables — 6-Time Honoree
General Motors — United States — Automotive — 7-Time Honoree
Genpact — United States — Consulting Services — 8-Time Honoree
Gilead Sciences — United States — Biotechnology — 1-Time Honoree
Graphic Packaging International — United States — Consumer Products — 1-Time Honoree
Grupo Bimbo — Mexico — Food, Beverage & Agriculture — 10-Time Honoree
HCA Healthcare, Inc. — United States — Healthcare Providers — 16-Time Honoree
HCLTech — India — Information Technology Services — 3-Time Honoree
Henry Schein, Inc. — United States — Healthcare Products — 15-Time Honoree
Hewlett Packard Enterprise — United States — Technology — 8-Time Honoree
Hitachi, Ltd. — Japan — Industrial Manufacturing — 2-Time Honoree
Honeywell — United States — Industrial Manufacturing — 8-Time Honoree
HP Inc — United States — Technology — 7-Time Honoree
Hubbell Incorporated — United States — Electronics & Components — 6-Time Honoree
Iberdrola S.A. — Spain — Energy & Utilities — 13-Time Honoree
IBM — United States — Technology — 8-Time Honoree
Infosys Limited — India — Software & Services — 6-Time Honoree
Ingredion — United States — Food, Beverage & Agriculture — 12-Time Honoree
Intel Corporation — United States — Semiconductors — 16-Time Honoree
International Paper — United States — Forestry, Paper & Packaging — 20-Time Honoree
Itron, Inc. — United States — Electronics & Components — 1-Time Honoree
JLL — United States — Real Estate — 19-Time Honoree
John Deere — United States — Industrial Manufacturing — 19-Time Honoree
Johnson Controls — Ireland — Industrial Manufacturing — 19-Time Honoree
Kao Corporation — Japan — Health & Beauty — 20-Time Honoree
Kimberly-Clark — United States — Consumer Products — 11-Time Honoree
L’Oréal — France — Health & Beauty — 17-Time Honoree
Labcorp — United States — Healthcare Providers & Services — 1-Time Honoree
Lam Research — United States — Semiconductors — 4-Time Honoree
Lear Corporation — United States — Automotive — 1-Time Honoree
Leidos — United States — Information Technology Services — 9-Time Honoree
Lincoln Electric — United States — Industrial Manufacturing — 8-Time Honoree
Lincoln Financial — United States — Financial Services — 5-Time Honoree
Linde plc — United Kingdom — Chemicals — 8-Time Honoree
Lonza Group — Switzerland — Pharmaceuticals — 5-Time Honoree
Magna International Inc. — Canada — Automotive — 5-Time Honoree
ManpowerGroup — United States — Staffing & Outsourcing Services — 17-Time Honoree
Marvell — United States — Semiconductors — 1-Time Honoree
Mastercard International Incorporated — United States — Payment Services — 11-Time Honoree
Medtronic — Ireland — Healthcare Products — 4-Time Honoree
Micron Technology — United States — Semiconductors — 4-Time Honoree
Milliken & Company — United States — Industrial Manufacturing — 20-Time Honoree
Motiva Infraestrutura de Mobilidade S.A. — Brazil — Transportation/Trucking/Railroad — 1-Time Honoree
Natura Cosméticos S.a — Brazil — Health & Beauty — 15-Time Honoree
Noblis — United States — Engineering Services — 14-Time Honoree
Nokia — Finland — Telecommunications — 10-Time Honoree
Northwell Health — United States — Healthcare Providers — 11-Time Honoree
nVent — United States — Electronics & Components — 3-Time Honoree
Oshkosh Corporation — United States — Automotive — 11-Time Honoree
Pacific Life — United States — Insurance — 9-Time Honoree
Parsons Corporation — United States — Engineering Services — 17-Time Honoree
Paychex, Inc. — United States — Staffing & Outsourcing Services — 18-Time Honoree
PepsiCo, Inc. — United States — Food, Beverage & Agriculture — 20-Time Honoree
Pfizer Inc — United States — Pharmaceuticals — 5-Time Honoree
Premier, Inc. — United States — Business Services — 19-Time Honoree
Principal Financial Group® — United States — Financial Services — 15-Time Honoree
Progreso — Guatemala — Construction & Building Materials — 13-Time Honoree
Prudential Financial — United States — Financial Services — 12-Time Honoree
Republic Services — United States — Environmental Services — 8-Time Honoree
Rockwell Automation — United States — Diversified Machinery — 18-Time Honoree
Royal Caribbean Group — United States — Leisure & Recreation — 11-Time Honoree
Salesforce, Inc. — United States — Software & Services — 17-Time Honoree
SANOFI — France — Pharmaceuticals — 1-Time Honoree
Schneider Electric — France — Diversified Machinery — 15-Time Honoree
SeAH Holdings — Korea, South — Industrial Manufacturing — 3-Time Honoree
SERTECPET S.A. — Ecuador — Oil and Gas, Renewables — 6-Time Honoree
ServiceNow, Inc. — United States — Software & Services — 3-Time Honoree
Signet Jewelers — United States — Retail — 2-Time Honoree
SK hynix — Korea, South — Semiconductors — 2-Time Honoree
Sodexo — France — Food Service — 3-Time Honoree
Sony Group Corporation — Japan — Entertainment & Technology — 8-Time Honoree
Southwire Company, LLC — United States — Electronics & Components — 3-Time Honoree
TE Connectivity — Ireland — Electronics & Components — 12-Time Honoree
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company — United States — Automotive — 3-Time Honoree
The Hartford — United States — Property & Casualty Insurance — 17-Time Honoree
The J.M. Smucker Co. — United States — Food, Beverage & Agriculture — 3-Time Honoree
The Timken Company — United States — Industrial Manufacturing — 15-Time Honoree
Thrivent — United States — Financial Services — 15-Time Honoree
TIAA — United States — Financial Services — 12-Time Honoree
Trane Technologies — Ireland — Industrial Manufacturing — 3-Time Honoree
TrueBlue Inc. — United States — Staffing & Outsourcing Services — 2-Time Honoree
U.S. Bank — United States — Banks — 12-Time Honoree
United States Steel Corporation — United States — Metals, Minerals & Mining — 5-Time Honoree
Unum Group — United States — Insurance — 6-Time Honoree
UST — United States — Software & Services — 1-Time Honoree
Verizon — United States — Telecommunications — 3-Time Honoree
Visa, Inc. — United States — Payment Services — 14-Time Honoree
W.W. Grainger, Inc. — United States — Retail — 2-Time Honoree
WD — United States — Technology — 8-Time Honoree
WM — United States — Environmental Services — 17-Time Honoree
Workday — United States — Software & Services — 6-Time Honoree
Xcel Energy — United States — Energy & Utilities — 7-Time Honoree
Zimmer Biomet — United States — Healthcare Products — 2-Time Honoree

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_{Main image: Ethisphere Institute}