Every second citizen of Cameroon and one Greek in 10 has paid a bribe over the last 12 months, according to one of the biggest international corruption surveys, to be published today.
Transparency International (TI), the Berlin-based anti-corruption monitor, found corruption remained a serious problem in several eastern European countries that joined the European Union in May, with 32 per cent of Lithuanians and 21 per cent of Czechs admitting they or a member of their household had paid a bribe in the last year.
The survey, covering more than 50,000 respondents in 64 countries, was conducted between June and September for TI by Gallup International, the polling agency. It will be published in Paris at the inauguration today of the United Nations' international anti-corruption day.
About one in 10 people around the world admitted that they or a household member had paid a bribe, according to TI. Cameroon tops the table with 52 per cent of respondents admitting bribe-paying, followed by Kenya (36 per cent), Lithuania, Moldova (32 per cent) and Nigeria (32 per cent).
Every fourth person in Ukraine admitted paying a bribe - a revealing result in the context of last month's disputed presidential elections - while 21 per cent of Russians did so. Among the "old" 15 EU member states, Finland, with 3 per cent, was highest, followed by Italy, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, all with 2 per cent. The figure for both UK and Ireland was 1 per cent. The US was the only country surveyed where less than 1 per cent admitted bribery.
Transparency International referred in the question only to "a bribe of any form". It notes that reluctance to admit paying bribes may have influenced the results. For instance 12 per cent of respondents in Austria and 23 per cent in Pakistan refused to answer or said they did not know - far above the average of 3 per cent "don't knows" across the countries polled.
Today is the first anniversary of the day on which the United Nations' anti-corruption convention received its first signatures from national governments.
