"Bribe payments rose to 18% in late 2025" — Government Statistician

Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu has disclosed that the proportion of Ghanaians who paid bribes increased to 18.0 percent during the second half of 2025, up from 14.3 percent in the first six months of the year, highlighting a deterioration in bribery experiences over the period.

Speaking at the launch of the Governance Series Wave 3 Report in Accra, Dr. Iddrisu said the findings showed that requests for unofficial payments by public officials also surged significantly, with 69 percent of citizens who interacted with public officials between July and December 2025 reporting that they were asked to make extra payments for services they were already entitled to receive.

"Over the last six months of 2025, the share who paid a bribe rose from 14.3 percent in the first half of the year to 18.0 percent in the second half"

Requests for extra payment also jumped from 51 percent to 69 percent, indicating that the pressure now lies more with what officials demand than what citizens voluntarily offer," he stated.

Dr. Iddrisu noted that while the second half of 2025 recorded a setback, the broader annual trend remained encouraging.

Comparing the whole of 2025 with 2024, he said bribery incidence declined from 18.4 percent to 16.8 percent, even as more citizens accessed public services.

According to him, interactions between citizens and public officials increased from 56 percent in 2024 to 72 percent in 2025, representing approximately 1.6 million additional contacts, yet fewer people ended up paying bribes over the full year.

He further revealed that the proportion of citizens making repeated bribe payments—five or more times—fell sharply from 24 percent in Wave 2 to less than 4 percent in Wave 3, suggesting that bribery is becoming less of a routine occurrence.

At the same time, the percentage of citizens who refused to pay bribes increased from 3.0 percent to 4.9 percent.

The Government Statistician said corruption remained concentrated in a few high-contact public institutions, with the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service continuing to record the highest bribery incidence.

However, he noted that the situation improved, with reported bribery falling from 61.0 percent in 2024 to 53.6 percent in 2025.

On citizen participation, Dr. Iddrisu said governance indicators also showed progress, as the proportion of Ghanaians who felt they had no influence over public decision-making declined from 42 percent in 2024 to 30 percent in 2025.

Nevertheless, he observed that young people, the elderly and the unemployed continued to feel the least represented.

He urged government agencies to deepen digitalisation of public services, publish official fees, strengthen complaint mechanisms and protect citizens who refuse to pay bribes.

He also called on businesses to insist on official payment channels, while encouraging citizens to know official fees, reject illegal demands and report corrupt practices.

Dr. Iddrisu stressed that the findings should serve as a basis for policy reforms, noting that evidence from previous Governance Series reports had already informed engagements with public institutions identified as high-risk for corruption.

Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith and Hawa Abubakar