Corruption increasing, say 62% of Hungarians

The verdict? “Corruption is a very real burden” – and just about everywhere, it appears. The “Global Corruption Barometer 2013” fleshes out a mostly bleak story over its 48 pages, though in most quarters optimism about fixing the problem apparently still flourishes.

Key statistics revealed by Hungarian respondents included that 34% thought the level of corruption had increased “a lot” in the past two years, while 28% said it had increased “a little,” 32% said it had “stayed the same”, and 6% thought the level of corruption had declined.

Sixty-eight percent of Hungarian respondents stated that political parties were affected by corruption; Hungary sided with nearly half (51) of the nations surveyed in reporting its political parties from among a list of 12 major institutions as the most rife with corruption. About 63% opined that corruption affected the business world, 56% Parliament, and 36% public officials and civil servants.

Worldwide, 53% opined that corruption has increased over the past two years, with just 18% believing that a decrease has shown. With the European Union, Belgium was most improved, as over 50% of Belgian respondents stated that corruption has declined; results in Georgia and Serbia showed similar numbers.

Among the survey's more telling statistics was the 27% who had reported paying a bribe within the previous year “when interacting with key public institutions and services” and the 31% of respondents who had bribed a law enforcement officer within that time period. From Hungary, just 12% of respondents reported having paid such a bribe within the previous 12 months.

Amazingly, results from Mexico showed that average-income household devote 14% and low-income households a whopping 33% of their budgets to bribery of officials.

When asked whether they thought “the government is run by a few big interests,” 52% of Hungarian respondents answered “to a large extent” or “entirely,” putting Hungary right on the median among nations on this question. Norway saw the fewest such answers at 5%, while those surveyed in Greece believed this to be true at a rate of 83%.

Perhaps most surprising of all was, despite apparently fairly widespread corruption around the world, numerous respondents still showed optimism toward the greater picture. When asked on a scaled scoring system, “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? ‘Ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption’,” a 60% or greater majority answered “agree” or “strongly agree” in 71 of the countries surveyed – including Hungary.

Hungary landed in the 61-80% quartile among these responses, with 48% strongly agreeing in the difference-making of the individual. The downside here: When asked whether they might be willing to do/participate in any of six “different things people could do to fight corruption” suggested on the survey, just 54% of respondents answered in the affirmative, a figure lower than any nation except Armenia.

The “Global Corruption Barometer 2013” may be read in its entirety here.