New data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) shows that almost 7 out of every 10 Ghanaians who faced bribery situations between July and December 2025 were asked by public officials to make unofficial payments.

The survey also found that the share of Ghanaians who actually paid a bribe rose from 14.3% in the first half of 2025 to 18% in the second half — meaning about 1 in 6 citizens paid a bribe to a public official during that period.

Presenting the findings at a Governance Series event organised by Three Reports and the GSS on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu said citizens' experiences with bribery got worse in the second half of the year, even though Ghana's overall governance performance improved compared to 2024.

"The most recent six months, which is July to December 2025, got harder compared to the previous six months, which is January to June 2025," he said.

"Over the last six months of 2025, the share who paid a bribe rose from 14.3% in the first half of 2025 to 18% in the second half of 2025. That is about one in six paid a bribe to a public official."

Dr Iddrisu said the bigger concern was the sharp rise in officials asking for bribes, which went from 51% in the first half of the year to 69% in the second half.

"So the pressure sits at the counter. The problem now is less what citizens offer and more of what officials would ask," he said.

Even so, he noted that governance overall improved across the full year when compared with 2024.

"The full year, which is 2025, got better compared to 2024. Both of these stories are true, and that's the beauty of the six-monthly survey that we do, to be able to look at trends within waves and even compare between years," he said.

He explained that the GSS survey tracks the same households across all 16 regions every time, which means changes in the data reflect real changes in people's experiences rather than differences in who was surveyed.

The latest findings cover the period from July to December 2025 and are based on interviews with household heads conducted in the first quarter of 2026.