Corruption getting worse, says poll

One person in four has paid a bribe to a public body in the last year, according to a survey carried out in 95 countries by Transparency International.

The poor record of some African nations on bribery stands out. Sierra Leone has the highest number of respondents admitting to having paid a bribe – 84% – and seven out of nine of the countries with the highest reported bribery rate are in sub-Saharan Africa. See the list below. The countries with the lowest reported bribery rate are Denmark, Finland, Japan and Australia, they all have a bribery rate of 1%.

27% world average

Top countries:

1. Sierra Leone 84%

2. Liberia 75%

3. Yemen 74%

4. Kenya 70%

Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer gathered data from 95 countries on bribery. For a small number of them, including Brazil and Russia, data on particular questions has been excluded because of concerns about validity and reliability. For the question on corrupt institutions 105 countries were covered.

The margin of error for each country is 3%. The typical sample size is 1,000 people. Four countries – Cyprus, Luxembourg, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands – have a sample size of 500 people and a margin of error of 4%.

Source: BBC