People say corruption in Mexico is getting worse

Corruption is on the rise in Mexico according to the 2010 National Index of Corruption and Good Governance released by Transparencia Mexicana, the national affiliate of anti-corruption group Transparency International.

Households paid bribes in 10.3 of every 100 cases when accessing a range of public procedures or services - an increase from 10 in every 100 cases in 2007.

The estimated costs of this form of corruption exceeded 32 billion pesos in 2010 – 5 billion more than in 2007.

First launched in 2001, this year’s National Index of Corruption and Good Governance surveys more than 15,300 households across Mexico. It measures how often Mexicans paid a bribe, or mordida, when accessing 35 public procedures and services ranging from waste collection to connecting electricity.

Mexican households reported more than 200 million irregular transactions when using these procedures and services, representing an additional 14% “tax” on top of the average household income in the country.

The survey also found that levels of corruption increased in 21 of the 35 procedures and services in the last three years.

Despite these results, 16 federal entities of Mexico managed to reduce the level of corruption in public procedures and services between 2007 and 2010. The other 16 worsened or remained the same.

The entire database is to be submitted to the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Economicas (CIDE), one of Mexico’s most prestigious centres for social sciences research and learning, for consultation by researchers, students and public servants.