A startling 81.6% of Ghanaians who interacted with public officials in 2024 paid bribes—either in cash or kind—for services, a new Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) survey has revealed.
Published in April 2025 as part of the Governance Series Wave 1, the report shows the disturbing depth of institutionalized corruption across the country.
The findings point to a systemic challenge, with more than half (55.7%) of the population reporting at least one contact with a public official between January and December 2024. Of those, 18.4% did not give any form of gift or money—leaving a staggering 81.6% who did.
According to GSS, males (77.4%) and urban dwellers (61.9%) were more likely to pay bribes.
The majority of those who gave gifts had JHS/Middle School (*26.4%) or tertiary education (25.7%), and *75.6% were employed.
The data was gathered across all 16 regions of the country between January 2 and January 20, 2025, from a sample population representing 9,058,519 citizens.
The data highlights the increasing normalisation of corruption as a necessary transaction for public service access, revealing the sheer magnitude of Ghana’s governance crisis.
By Ruth Sekyi
Find the full GSS Governance Series Wave 1 document below;
