Celebrating the international Anti-Corruption Day, Berlin-based Transparency International published the results today of the 2010 Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) [1], reflecting people’s perceptions in 86 countries around the world. The opinion poll in Georgia was conducted by GORBI [2]; 500 residents of Tbilisi were interviewed (face-to-face) between June 15 and June 24, 2010.

According to the Global Corruption Barometer, 77 percent of Tbilisi’s residents state that the Georgian Government has been effective or extremely effective in fighting corruption. Compared to other countries included in this poll, Georgia has the highest rate of respondents who say that their Government’s actions to fight corruption have been “effective” or “extremely effective”.

Similarly, with 78 percent, Georgia has by far the highest rate of people stating that corruption has “decreased a lot” or “decreased” in the past three years (next: Kenya at 48 percent). Only nine percent of people surveyed said corruption had increased (a lot) in the past three years in Georgia. That is by far the lowest number of all countries surveyed (tied for 2nd: Denmark, Thailand, Poland at 29 percent).

“The public’s views on corruption are important, because they show us how corruption affects the lives of people in Georgia and around the world”, says Eka Gigauri, Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia. “If we compare the results of the 2010 survey to results from 2004, we see that citizens’ trust in institutions such as the police, the military, parliament, political parties, the media, the church, NGOs and the private sector has increased. However, political parties and the judiciary remain the institutions that are perceived as most corrupt.”

The government is seen by 56 percent of respondents as the most trusted institution to fight corruption in Georgia. Only two percent named the media as the most trusted institution in fighting corruption, and only 1.6 percent believed the private sector could play this role. “These results show that there is an urgent need to strengthen the credibility and professionalism of the media and to involve the private sector in promoting integrity and transparency in Georgia”, says Ms. Gigauri.

The poll suggests that Georgians are still somewhat reluctant to report corruption: 42 percent stated they would not report a case of corruption, 58 percent said they would.

Asked if they had paid a bribe in the past 12 months, only three percent said yes -- again, one of the lowest numbers amongst all countries surveyed. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they had not paid a bribe. However, a full 38 percent stated that they preferred not to answer the question.