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Corruption in the public opinion

Since 2005, the European Commission has been conducting surveys on the public's opinion about corruption. The data gathered involves two different fields: citizens' and businesses' attitudes towards corruption.

All Special Eurobarometer surveys on citizens' attitudes towards corruption and Flash Eurobarometer surveys on businesses' attitudes towards corruption are listed by chronological order below.

Special Eurobarometer survey

 Citizens’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU

  • Special Eurobarometer 573 – Citizens’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2026): Just over seven in ten Europeans (71%) consider that corruption is widespread in their country and 35% agree that their national government’s efforts to combat corruption are effective (vs 54% who do not agree that their government’s efforts are effective).
  • Flash Eurobarometer 581 – Citizens’ attitudes towards corruption in selected enlargement countries and citizens’ perception of the independence of national justice systems in the EU and selected enlargement countries (2026): 69% of respondents in our selected enlargement countries from the Western Balkans think that corruption is part of their country’s business culture and 71% think that high-level corruption cases are not pursued sufficiently in their country.
  • Special Eurobarometer 561 – Citizens’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2025): More than two thirds of Europeans (69%) still believe corruption is widespread in their country, while at least three in ten EU citizens feel personally affected by it and believe that it has increased in recent years.
  • Special Eurobarometer 548 - Citizens’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2024): A majority of Europeans (61%) view corruption as unacceptable, but believe it is widespread in their country (68%), while approximatively one quarter (27%) feel personally affected by it in their daily lives.
  • Special Eurobarometer 534 – Citizens’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2023): Most Europeans (64%) still think corruption is unacceptable, however 70% believe corruption is prevalent in their country.
  • Special Eurobarometer 523 – Corruption (2022): Almost one out of four Europeans (24%) feel personally affected by corruption in their daily life. Only 15% of those who have experienced corruption reported it.
  • Special Eurobarometer 502 – Corruption (2019): Despite a slight improvement, Europeans remain sceptical about efforts to address corruption. Less than half (44%) know where to report it.

Older surveys:

Flash Eurobarometer survey

Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU   

  • Flash Eurobarometer 582 - Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption and businesses’ perception of the independence of national justice systems in the EU and in selected enlargement countries in (2026): 65% of companies think the problem of corruption is widespread in their country and 53% of companies disagree that in their country measures against corruption are applied impartially and without ulterior motives.
  • Flash Eurobarometer 557 – Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2025): 35% of EU-based companies continue to find corruption to be a serious problem when doing business in their country with 61% of them agreeing that, in their country, workers reporting corruption to the competent authorities contributes to effectively addressing corruption.
  • Flash Eurobarometer 543 - Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2024): More than half of the respondents view corruption as prevalent in public procurement, with 27% stating that it has prevented them from securing contracts and over 50% doubting the effectiveness of corruption investigations and sanctions.
  • Flash Eurobarometer 524 – Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2023): Nepotism is mentioned as the most widespread corruptive practice by almost half EU companies (48%), followed by funding political parties in exchange for public contracts or influence over policy making (38%).
  • Flash Eurobarometer 507 – Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2022): Most EU businesses (54%) say anti-corruption measures are not impartially applied and have ulterior motives.
  • Flash Eurobarometer 482 – Businesses’ attitudes towards corruption in the EU (2019): Although not ranked among the top concerns, corruption is a problem for nearly four in ten EU companies.

Older surveys: