Public officials demanded bribes from nearly 7 in 10 Ghanaians in late 2025 —GSS Report

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Public officials demanded unofficial payments from nearly seven out of every 10 Ghanaians who encountered bribery situations in the second half of 2025, according to a new governance data release by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), revealing a troubling surge in corruption pressures at the point of service delivery.

The latest Governance Series report, presented at a joint event organised by Three Reports and the GSS in Accra on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, showed that while Ghana’s overall governance indicators improved compared to 2024, citizens’ day-to-day experiences with bribery worsened significantly between July and December 2025

Sharp rise in demands

Presenting the findings, Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu disclosed that the share of citizens who said public officials demanded extra payments rose from 51 percent in the first half of 2025 to 69 percent in the second half—an increase of 18 percentage points in just six months.

“So the pressure sits at the counter. The problem now is less what citizens offer and more of what officials would ask,” Dr. Iddrisu stated, emphasising that the initiative for bribery is increasingly coming from public officials rather than citizens seeking to expedite services.

The survey also found that the proportion of Ghanaians who actually paid a bribe increased from 14.3 percent in the first half of 2025 to 18 percent in the second half, meaning that approximately one in six citizens paid an unofficial fee to access a public service during the period.

Broader governance picture

Dr. Iddrisu, however, stressed that the broader picture remained positive, noting that Ghana’s overall governance performance in 2025 improved compared to the previous year.

“The full year, which is 2025, got better compared to 2024. Both of these stories are true, and that’s the beauty of the six-monthly survey that we do, to be able to look at trends within waves and even compare between years,” he explained.

He noted that the survey follows the same nationally representative households across all 16 regions, enabling the GSS to measure real changes in citizens’ experiences over time rather than differences arising from changes in survey samples.

Methodology and scope

The latest findings are based on interviews conducted with household heads during the first quarter of 2026, covering their experiences between July and December 2025. The Governance Series survey is a biennial exercise that tracks citizens’ perceptions and experiences with governance, public service delivery and corruption.

The GSS has emphasised that the data provides a reliable picture of ground-level realities, as it captures the actual experiences of ordinary Ghanaians rather than abstract perceptions.

Context and implications

The findings come at a time when Ghana has made notable strides in international governance rankings, including improvements in the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators and the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance. However, the GSS data suggests that these aggregate improvements may not be filtering down to the daily experiences of citizens interacting with public institutions.

Anti-corruption advocates have expressed concern that the rise in demand-side bribery—where officials actively solicit payments—indicates a systemic breakdown in accountability within the public service. They have called for stricter enforcement of anti-corruption laws, enhanced whistleblower protections and regular mystery shopper exercises to identify and sanction errant officials.

Policy implications

The report’s findings are likely to reignite debates about the effectiveness of Ghana’s anti-corruption institutions, including the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO). Observers argue that while these bodies exist, their impact on ground-level corruption remains limited without sustained political will and adequate resourcing.

Dr. Iddrisu, while acknowledging the worrying trend, urged stakeholders to view the data holistically and not lose sight of the broader improvements in governance indicators.

Call for action

Civil society organisations have welcomed the GSS’s transparency in releasing the data and have called for urgent action to address the growing culture of demand-side bribery. They have recommended the digitisation of public services to reduce human contact, the introduction of anonymous reporting systems and the publication of service delivery timelines to empower citizens to demand accountability.

As Ghana seeks to consolidate its democratic gains and improve the business environment, the GSS report serves as a stark reminder that governance reforms must translate into tangible improvements in the lives of ordinary citizens—a challenge that remains unmet for nearly seven in ten Ghanaians.