The new governance data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has disclosed that unofficial payments to access public services in Ghana rose sharply in the second half of 2025.
According to the GSS, the proportion of Ghanaians who paid a bribe increased from 14.3% in the first half of 2025 to 18% in the second half.
They disclosed that one in six people paid a bribe to a public official during the second half of 2025.
The GSS data reveals that nearly 7 in 10 citizens who encountered bribery reported that public officials demanded extra payments.
On Tuesday, August 4, 2026, Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, speaking at a Governance Series event organised by Three Reports and the GSS, made this known.
Dr Alhassan Iddrisu stated, “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”.
“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.”
He further disclosed that requests for extra payments increased even more sharply, rising from 51% in the first half of 2025 to 69% in the second half of 2025.
“So the pressure sits at the counter. The problem now is less what citizens offer and more of what officials would ask,” Dr Iddrisu said.
“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.
The GSS findings cover citizens’ experiences between July and December 2025 and were collected during the first quarter of 2026 during interviews with household heads.
In other news, Christian Tetteh Yohunu, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), has said officers of the Ghana Police Service can no longer be bribed.
According to IGP Yohunu, anyone who attempts to bribe a Police Officer in the line of duty will be disgraced.
He stressed that police officers now prefer to be promoted for good behaviour rather than accept bribes.
Speaking at an event, the Inspector General of Police stated, “Today, I assure you, you cannot bribe a policeman anymore. If you attempt to bribe a police man, he will disgrace you. They all want to be promoted for good behaviour”.
“We want to be one of the best police in the world, and we are carving that image, which generation upon generation will follow, so that we get our glory back and make everybody in Ghana proud,” he said.
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