Facts & Figures
Due to its nature, the scale of corruption is impossible to quantify with precision. But some informed estimates do exist:
Corruption costs US $1 trillion in bribes - This is considered to be a conservative estimate of actual bribes paid worldwide in both developed and developing countries (The World Bank Institute).
Developing countries
25% of African states’ GDP lost to corruption each year - The amount lost to corruption each year totals US $148 billion (covers the full range of corruption, from petty bribes to inflated public procurement contracts) (U4 Anti-corruption Resource Centre, 2007).
Losses equal 20% to 40% of ODA - Proceeds of corruption in bribes received by public officials from developing and transition countries are estimated to be between US $20 billion to US $40 billion per year - this figure is equivalent to 20% to 40% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) (The World Bank, Star Report, 2007).
50% loss in health funds - This is the estimated percentage of allocated funds that do not reach clinics and hospitals in Ghana (Transparency International, 2006 Global Corruption Report).
400% GDP gain from fighting corruption- Countries that seriously tackle corruption can expect, in the medium-term, up to a four-fold increase in income per capita (World Bank).
Loss of natural resources - Corruption accelerates the depletion of natural resources, notably primary forests and inshore fishing grounds, which many communities rely on for their livelihoods. The government of Indonesia has estimated that lost forest revenue costs the nation up to US $4 billion a year or around five times the annual budget for the Indonesian department of health (UNDP report, Accelerating Human Development in Asia and the Pacific, 2008).
Missed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)- In developing countries, corruption raises the cost of connecting a household to a water network by as much as 30%, inflating the cost of achieving the MDG on water and sanitation by more than US $48 billion or nearly half of annual global aid outlays (Transparency International, Global Corruption Report 2008).
Developed countries
EUR 6 billion price tag for white-collar crime - German companies lose more than EUR 6 billion a year due to corruption, embezzlement and fraud (GermanMartinLutherUniversity of Halle-Wittenberg, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Germany's TNS-Emnid, 2007).
US $50 billion in corrupt money - This is the approximate amount of corrupt money deposited each year into western bank accounts and tax havens (Raymond Baker).
US $250 billion in laundered funds - This is the estimate of laundered money from developed and transitional economies that makes its way into US banks each year (Raymond Baker).