The incidence of bribery in Ghana increased during the second half of 2025, with 18.0 per cent of household heads who interacted with public officials reporting that they paid money or gave gifts, according to the latest Governance Series released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). The figure represents an increase from the 14.3 per cent recorded between January and June 2025, translating into an estimated 1.7 million people paying bribes compared to 1.3 million in the first half of the year. The report also revealed that the number of Ghanaians who had contact with public officials declined from 6.8 million (74.2 per cent) in the first half of 2025 to 6.4 million (69.6 per cent) between July and December 2025. The GSS defines bribery as the giving, offering or receiving of money, gifts or favours in exchange for influence or action that violates legal, ethical or official duties. Most bribes remained relatively small, with more than 84 per cent of payments amounting to GH¢500 or less.