According to a new report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigerian public officials received an estimated N721 billion in cash bribes in 2023, which amounts to 0.35% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The report, titled "Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends", was conducted in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and supported by the MacArthur Foundation and the Kingdom of Denmark.
The survey found that the average cash bribe paid was N8,284, an increase from N5,754 in 2019, although the inflation-adjusted average cash bribe in 2023 was 29% smaller than in 2019 in terms of purchasing power.
Corruption ranked fourth among the most important problems affecting Nigeria in 2023, after the cost of living, insecurity, and unemployment.
Nigerians' confidence in the government's anti-corruption efforts has been declining, with all six geopolitical zones recording reductions of more than 10 percentage points in the share of citizens who thought the government was effective in fighting corruption between 2019 and 2023.
Despite a decrease in the percentage of Nigerians who interacted with public officials, from 63% in 2019 to 56% in 2023, bribery remains widespread, with an average of 5.1 bribes paid per bribe payer in 2023, totaling approximately 87 million bribes nationwide.
Bribery is more common in rural areas, with rural residents paying an average of 5.8 bribes compared to 4.5 bribes in urban areas.
Over 95% of bribes were paid in monetary form (cash or money transfer) in 2023. Public officials were more likely to demand bribes, accounting for 52% of all bribery transactions, while private sector actors like doctors in private hospitals also contributed to the increase in bribery from 6% in 2019 to 14% in 2023.
