31.67% of govt service seekers face bribery: BBS survey

About one-third of government service seekers in the country had to pay bribes between February 2024 and February 2025, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics' (BBS) Citizen Perception Survey (CPS) 2025 found.

Infograph: TBS

The BBS collected the data through interviews with 84,807 respondents aged 18 and above from 45,888 households across 1,920 primary sampling units (PSUs) in all 64 districts. The survey was conducted between 6 and 23 February 2025. 

According to the survey, more than half of the country's population (51% of respondents) contacted at least one government office in the past year, and a significant share reported experiencing bribery or corruption.

Nationally, 31.67% of those who sought government service reported paying bribes in the past 12 months, with rates of 32.27% in rural areas and 30.41% in urban areas. Among men the rate was 38.62%, while among women it was lower at 22.27%.

However, there are wide district-level disparities in the incidence of bribery when citizens interact with government offices. Noakhali has the highest rate of bribery at 57.17%, followed by Comilla at 53.47%, according to the final report of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics' (BBS) Citizen Perception Survey (CPS) 2025.

By contrast, bribery prevalence is comparatively low in several districts. The survey found bribery rates of just 10.49% in Chapainawabganj, 13.98% in Magura, 14.50% in Lalmonirhat, 15.24% in Gazipur and 15.61% in Sylhet. 

The gap between the highest- and lowest-ranking districts is nearly 47 percentage points, highlighting deep inequalities in corruption levels at the district level and underscoring the need for targeted reforms and monitoring.

In some districts, nearly half or more of the citizens who sought government services reported having experienced bribery. The rate of bribery at Faridpur is 51.70%, Bhola 49.01% and Sirajganj 48.37%.

In these areas, more than half of those who contacted government offices faced bribery in some form. Complaints were particularly high in services related to land, the police and local administration.

Experts say these district-level gaps reflect differences in administrative capacity, the degree of digitalisation of services, local oversight and levels of citizen awareness. They argue that districts with higher bribery rates urgently require targeted reforms, greater transparency in service delivery and stronger accountability within district administrations.

The report identifies the most corruption-prone sectors as the BRTA (63.29%), law enforcement agencies (57.96%), passport offices (57.45%), land registration offices (54.92%), judges or magistrates, prosecutors (government lawyers) and others (53.77%), and land records, acquisition and settlement offices (51.40%). Nearly 98.48% of respondents who paid bribes said bribes were paid in cash.

BBS noted that the findings may not fully align with perceptions at other times of the year, as public sentiment can vary and national circumstances changed significantly during this period.

The CPS final report was formally released on Wednesday at the BBS auditorium in Agargaon. Aleya Akter, secretary of the Statistics and Informatics Division, attended as the chief guest. SM Shakil Akhtar, secretary of the Planning Division, and Mohammad Masud Rana Chowdhury, additional secretary of the Statistics and Informatics Division, were present as special guests. The event was chaired by Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, director general (additional secretary) of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

The survey also shows that 84.81% of citizens feel safe walking alone in their neighbourhoods after dusk. This sense of safety is slightly lower among women (80.67%) than men (81.53%). Feeling safe at home after dusk is comparatively higher at 92.54%.

On governance, only 27.24% of citizens believe they can influence government decisions. This figure drops to 21.99% when it comes to political influence. Nationally, about one-quarter (24.62%) believe decision-making in the political system is inclusive and responsive, with little difference between rural (24.47%) and urban (24.91%) populations.

Regarding access to services in the 12 months prior to data collection, 47.12% of citizens nationally received government healthcare, while 40.93% reported that at least one of their children attended a government primary or secondary school. Additionally, 73.77% attempted to access other government services such as identity cards or civil registration. Among service users, overall satisfaction was reported at 72.69% for healthcare, 81.56% for primary education, 78.18% for secondary education and 66.91% for other government services.

Nationally, about 16.16% of people experienced a dispute or conflict in the past two years. Of them, the majority (83.60%) accessed either formal mechanisms (such as courts) or informal mechanisms (such as community leaders) for resolution. Among these, 41.34% received services through formal institutions and 68.96% through informal institutions.

The findings also show that 19.31% of citizens experienced some form of discrimination. The main bases of discrimination were socio-economic status (6.82%) and gender (4.47%). Discrimination most commonly occurred within the family (49.72%), on public transport or in open spaces (34.82%) and at workplaces (24.85%). Only 5.37% of victims reported these incidents to authorities.

'Only a quarter of citizens feel politically empowered'

The survey also reveals that only about a quarter of citizens feel politically empowered in Bangladesh.

Nationally, only 27.24% of citizens believe they can freely express their views on government actions, with slightly higher confidence in urban areas (27.87%) compared to rural areas (26.94%).

Men are more likely to feel this freedom (31.86%) than women (23.02%).

Even fewer citizens believe they can influence political processes, with just 21.99% reporting such confidence nationwide. The urban-rural gap is minimal, but gender disparity is significant – 26.55% of men feel they can influence politics, compared to only 17.81% of women.