STAFF CORRESPONDENT

As much as Tk 12,633.2 crore was paid in bribes during the period of the interim government in service sectors, up 15.9 percent from 2023, found the Transparency International Bangladesh’s (TIB) latest National Household Survey.

The amount is equivalent to 1.58 percent of the national budget for fiscal 2024-25, underscoring the high economic cost of corruption, said the survey “Corruption in Service Sectors: National Household Survey 2025”, which was unveiled yesterday.

TIB conducted the survey from November 2024 to October 2025 and found that corruption in service sectors has worsened.

As many as 81.6 percent households experienced corruption in at least one service sector, up from 70.9 percent in 2023.

The survey’s findings reflect the state of corruption during the interim government’s tenure and could serve as a baseline for assessing future anti-corruption efforts, said TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman.

Passport services remained the most corruption-prone sector, with 84.4 percent of users reporting corruption, followed by BRTA services (79.3 percent), judicial services (71.3 percent), law enforcement agencies (69.4 percent) and land services (66.3 percent).

In terms of bribery, passport services also topped the list, with 76.6 percent of the users reporting they paid bribes.

It was followed by services from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (63.5 percent), law enforcement agencies and agricultural services (49.3 percent each), and land services (47.6 percent).

Overall, 63.6 percent households reported paying bribes to access at least one service sector, compared with 50.8 percent in 2023. The incidence of bribery was higher in rural areas (66 percent) than in

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