About two in three adults worldwide believe corruption is widespread in the businesses in their countries, gallup.com says.
This belief is relatively commonplace everywhere in the world — ranging from 60% in the U.S. and Canada to a high of 76% in sub-Saharan Africa – but it tends to be higher in lower income regions.
Gallup's data, collected in 2011, demonstrate that corruption in business is an issue for developed and developing countries. However, developing nations may suffer more because corruption can stymie financial development and foreign investments and foster income inequality.
In several regions, results vary widely across countries – particularly countries at different stages of development. In Asia, for example, a relatively low 13% of residents in highly developed Singapore perceive corruption as widespread. In contrast, nearly nine in 10 adults in neighboring Indonesia perceive corruption as widespread in their businesses.
Perceptions of business corruption also vary widely in former Soviet countries, ranging from a low of 28% in Georgia to a high of 87% in Moldova. Georgians' perceived corruption in business has dropped precipitously since 2006, when more than half the population (52%) viewed the problem as widespread. This decline likely reflects some dividends from the country's efforts to eradicate corruption with a zero-tolerance anti-corruption campaign.
Results are based on face-to-face and telephone interviews with approximately 1,000 adults per country, aged 15 and older, conducted in 2011 in 140 countries.
