Person holding dollar bills Police taking bribes was highlighted as a major
problem by the report
The world is considered a more corrupt place now than it was three years ago, a
poll suggests.
Some 56% of people interviewed by Transparency International said their country
had become more corrupt.
The organisation put Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iraq and India in the most corrupt
category, followed by China, Russia and much of the Middle East.
Meanwhile, a BBC poll suggests that corruption is the world's most talked about
problem.
About one in five of those polled by the BBC said they had discussed issues
relating to corruption with others in the last month, making it the most talked
about concern ahead of climate change, poverty, unemployment and rising food
and energy costs.
In the Transparency International survey, political parties were regarded as
the most corrupt institutions, and 50% of people believed their government was
ineffective at tackling the problem.
One in four of those polled said they had paid a bribe in the past year - the
police being the most common recipient.
Some 29% of bribes went to the police, 20% to registry and permit officials,
and 14% to members of the judiciary.
Political parties have long been regarded as the most corrupt institutions -
they topped the list in Transparency's 2004 barometer with 71%. In this year's
report, 80% regarded them as corrupt.
Religious bodies experienced a sharp rise in people regarding them as corrupt -
28% in 2004 increased to 53% by 2010.
Why pay a bribe?
authorities
why they had paid
Source: Global Corruption Barometer 2010
People from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Iraq and India were among those who perceived
the highest levels of corruption in their daily lives.
At least half of the people surveyed in those countries reported paying a bribe
in the past year.
While people from Cambodia (84%) and Liberia (89%) were the most likely to have
to pay a bribe, the Danish reported 0% bribery.
Robin Hodess, Transparency's policy and research director, expressed particular
concern at the figures on bribery.
"Unfortunately people's experience with bribery most often involves the police,
and this is really worrying," she said.
"It's a figure that's grown in the past few years. It's nearly doubled, in
fact, since 2006. Nearly one in three people who had contact with the police
around the world had to pay a bribe."
By region, people in sub-Saharan Africa were the most likely to have paid a
bribe (56%).
Bribe taking was least common in EU countries and North America (both 5%) -
although these were the two regions seeing the biggest increase in concern
about corruption.
Analysts blame this rising concern on the global financial crisis for
undermining people's faith in government, banks and economic institutions.
Sweden has enjoyed a clean reputation - but is it deserved?
The lobby group interviewed 90,000 people in 86 countries to compile its
corruption barometer.
Poverty
The opinion poll commissioned by the BBC sampled 13,000 people in 26 nations.
One question asked people to rate which issues they saw as most serious.
Corruption was ranked as the second most important topic behind poverty.
Respondents in Brazil, Egypt, Colombia, the Philippines and Kenya were
especially likely to view corruption as a very serious issue.
In Europe, Italians were the most concerned about bribe taking.
Publication of the BBC poll coincides with anti-corruption day held by the
United Nations.