Sticky fingers

By J.S., D.H. and L.P.

Where bribery is most widespread

IN SOME countries the need to grease the palms of officialdom remains a depressing fact of life. That, at least, is the finding of a new survey by Transparency International, a Berlin-based campaigning group. Over one in four people said they had paid a bribe in the past year for public services relating to tax, health, police, land and others. Bribery is most widespread in poorer, badly run parts of the world in Africa and the Middle East: the highest rates are reported in Sierra Leone (84%), Liberia (75%) and Yemen (74%). The police had received bribes from a third of all respondents, the highest number for any service; and in places such as Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria that figure rose to three-quarters. The reasons for bribe-paying vary, of course. In Bangladesh, Jordan and Cameroon, over half of those surveyed said it was the only way to get a particular service. Indonesians overwhelmingly said it speeded up the process. In Georgia, eastern Europe, Japan and South Korea many said they had paid as an expression of gratitude. More broadly, people in 70 countries said they thought that corruption had increased in the past two years. But there is a glimmer of good news in some unusual places, including Rwanda, South Sudan and Serbia.