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areas (58.5 percent).

Although the average amount of bribes paid per household declined by 9.8 percent, corruption became more widespread. The average bribe paid per household stood at Tk 5,124, including Tk 4,864 in rural areas and Tk 5,757 in urban areas.

Among individual sectors, judicial services recorded the highest average bribe amount of Tk 24,691 per household, followed by banking services at Tk 19,322, land services at Tk 11,311, law enforcement agencies at Tk 7,407, BRTA services at Tk 6,923 and passport services at Tk 4,532.

The survey also revealed the overwhelming dependence on conventional service delivery.

While 99.8 percent households received services from at least one public or private sector, 99.3 percent obtained services through direct, in-person interactions. Only 3.9 percent accessed services digitally or online.

“One notable finding is that 99.8 percent of service recipients received services from at least one sector. This clearly demonstrates the importance of these services in people’s everyday lives,” Iftekharuzzaman said.

He described the low rate of digital service delivery as a missed opportunity despite improvements in Bangladesh’s digital infrastructure and governance.

“If we consider Bangladesh’s comparatively strong performance in global digital governance indicators and the improvements in digital infrastructure, the continued dependence on physical service delivery is concerning,” he said.

The survey found that bribery has become increasingly institutionalised.

Among those who paid bribes, 81.5 percent said they had no choice because services would not be provided otherwise. In 2023, about 77 percent gave this response.

“Bribery has effectively become a reality that people are forced to accept in order to obtain services,” Iftekharuzzaman said.

Corruption disproportionately affects vulnerable groups.

“People living in rural areas are more likely to become victims of corruption. The burden of corruption on lower-income groups is nearly three times higher than on middle- and upper-income groups.”

In several service sectors, women are comparatively more vulnerable to corruption, while ethnic minorities, indigenous communities and other marginalised groups are disproportionately affected.

Referring to the broader political context, he said the report carries special significance following recent political changes in Bangladesh and the commitments made by political parties to strengthen governance and combat corruption.

“We believe this survey can serve as a baseline for evaluating the performance of the current government in implementing those commitments and provide a benchmark against which future corruption trends can be compared,” he said.

The survey used a two-stage sampling method covering all eight divisions. A total of 1,149 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) were selected nationwide, and 13, 26 or 34 households were sampled from each PSU through systematic random sampling.

At the press conference, TIB proposed a 10-point anti-corruption agenda, including an integrated anti-corruption strategy, stricter legal action, full digitalisation of public services, stronger complaint mechanisms and Anti-Corruption Commission hotline services, mandatory asset declarations for public officials, greater transparency, improved staffing in service sectors, and stronger grassroots anti-corruption movements.