30% of individuals and a quarter of businesses in Bulgaria reported increased pressure and involvement in corruption, according to CSD's latest report

In 2023, 30% of individuals and a quarter of businesses reported increased pressure and involvement in corruption, according to the latest report of the Center for the Study of Democracy. Against this background, the law enforcement system has an efficiency of 0.01%.

In 2023, administrative corruption once again peaked, with 35% of the public reporting having been asked for a bribe and 30% having been involved in corruption transactions at least on some occasions in the preceding year.

53% say they would accept a bribe and 67% believe that corruption cannot be significantly reduced.

"For businesses, in fact, corruption has normalized to such an extent that they prefer to give upfront, even before they are asked. And if we compare the data and similar data from other surveys with the data from police statistics, we are faced with something we have called the deterrence effect and we have measured it by 0.001%," said Dr. Todor Galev, Director of Research, CSD.

"81% believe that corruption is widespread in the country, which compares to 70% in the EU. The same is true for the business climate", said Yordanka Chobanova, Head, EC Representation in Bulgaria.