At least 79.9% of households in the country had been subjected to some form of corruption last year, reports a Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) survey.
Some 74.4% of households were victims of corruption by law enforcement agencies – the most corrupt service sector in the country, the anti-corruption watchdog found in its survey titled "Corruption in Service Sectors: National Household Survey 2021."
The findings of the survey were unveiled at a press conference held in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration and Passport, 70.5%, and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), 68.3%, occupied the second and third positions among the most corrupt service sectors.
As per the report, in 2021, some 99.5% of Bangladeshi households received services from different sectors.
Among other significant service sectors, households became victims of corruption while seeking judicial services (56.8%), health services (48.7%), local government organisations (46.6%), and land services (46.3%).
In Bangladesh, it is widely recognised that corruption is one of the major obstacles to poverty reduction and development.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has been conducting a national survey in service sectors since 1997 to identify the nature and extent of corruption in service sectors.
So far, nine such surveys have been conducted at a regular interval of two to three years.
The ninth survey has captured corruption households experienced during getting services from service sectors from January to December 2021.