A new report from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) reveals that men are significantly more likely than women to pay bribes when accessing public services.
The report, part of the Governance Series Wave 1, highlights that 55.7% of Ghanaians had interactions with public officials in 2024.
Of those, nearly one in six (18.4%) admitted to offering gifts or unofficial payments to obtain services.
Conducted via phone interviews with 7,248 respondents across all 16 regions of Ghana, the study provides critical insights into everyday experiences of corruption.
It forms part of efforts to track progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 16.5.1, which measures bribery in public institutions.
One of the most striking findings is the gender disparity: men accounted for 68.3% of all reported bribery cases, more than double the 31.7% involving women.
The data underscores a troubling trend: not only are men more frequently engaged with public institutions, but they are also more likely to use bribes as a means to access services.
The findings shed light on the persistent role of corruption in Ghana’s public service delivery and point to the need for targeted reforms and gender-responsive anti-corruption strategies.
The chart shows that money is by far the most common item given to public officials in addition to official fees, making up 85.2% of all such gifts. This is followed distantly by: Food, drinks, or animals: 9.0%, Exchange services: 4.4%, and Valuables: 1.4%
This highlights that cash bribes are the dominant form of unofficial payments in public service interactions.
The trend was also more pronounced in urban areas, where 64.3% of bribery cases occurred, compared to 35.7% in rural settings.
The Greater Accra and Ashanti regions recorded the highest levels of bribery, while the Savannah and North East regions had the lowest.
