Government at a Glance 2025

12.1. Perceptions of public sector integrity

Unethical behaviour by elected officials and civil servants can manifest in various forms, such as undue influence, petty corruption, bribery, embezzlement and favouritism. All of them weaken democratic governance and result in ineffective policies, diverted or wasted resources, and poorer outcomes for the public. Perceptions about integrity are important as they can shape how people relate to institutions and influence their behaviour, thereby affecting their confidence in institutions and individuals' actions in society (OECD, 2024a).

Across OECD countries, there is widespread scepticism about the integrity of elected officials, accompanied by concerns about undue influence. On average, nearly half of respondents (49%) believe it is likely that a high-level political official would grant a political favour in exchange for a lucrative private sector job, while only 31% consider it unlikely (Figure ‎12.1). Notably, the share of people who think this likely rose by 3 percentage points between 2021 and 2023 on average in the countries that participated in both rounds of the OECD Trust Survey (Figure ‎12.2).

In the case of non-elected officials, 36% of respondents across OECD countries believe civil servants would reject a bribe intended to expedite access to a service. People in Norway (56%), Finland (54%) and Denmark (52%) report the highest levels of confidence in public servants' behaviour (Figure ‎12.3). Among countries that participated in both waves of the Trust Survey, this figure has fallen by 4 p.p. since 2021, when the OECD average was 40% (Online Figure J.9.1). This suggests that, although civil servants are still generally viewed as more ethical than politicians, this weakening could signal growing concerns about integrity in everyday administrative interactions in some countries. Nevertheless, perceptions of ethical behaviour have improved in some countries. Mexico and Finland saw the largest gains, with confidence rising by 9 p.p. in Mexico (from 18% in 2021 to 27% in 2023) and 8 p.p. in Finland (from 46% in 2021 to 54% in 2023).

Overall, the findings highlight persistent concerns about integrity in both the political and administrative spheres across OECD countries. Strengthening institutional safeguards, increasing transparency and enforcing ethical standards remain essential to rebuilding public trust and ensuring that both elected officials and civil servants are perceived as acting in the public interest.

Methodology and definitions

The 2023 wave of the OECD Trust Survey is a nationally representative population survey collecting data from around 60 000 respondents in 30 OECD countries to explore the drivers of public trust. Most countries were surveyed in October-November 2023. For an in-depth look at the survey method and implementation, please refer to the detailed methodological background paper at https://oe.cd/trust.

Further reading

OECD (2024a), Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2024, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/968587cd-en.

OECD (2024b), OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions – 2024 Results: Building Trust in a Complex Policy Environment, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9a20554b-en.

Brezzi, M., et al. (2021), “An updated OECD framework on drivers of trust in public institutions to meet current and future challenges”, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 48, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b6c5478c-en.

Figure notes

Data for 2021 for Chile, Costa Rica, Czechia, Germany, Spain, Greece, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland are not available, Data for 2023 for Austria and Japan are not available. Likely corresponds to responses of 6-10 on a 0-10 scale, neutral to 5 and unlikely to 0-4. Don't know was a separate answer choice.

Figure ‎12.1. Refers to the question “If a politician was offered a well-paid job in the private sector in exchange for a political favour, how likely do you think it is that they would refuse it?”.

Figure ‎12.2. “OECD” presents the unweighted average of responses across countries, for the listed countries where the variable is available in both 2021 and 2023. The 2021 question was worded slightly differently in Norway (“If a member of the Storting were to be offered a bribe or other benefit in return for exercising their influence on a parliamentary matter, how likely are they to accept it?”) and in Finland: (“If a parliamentarian were offered a bribe to influence the awarding of a public procurement contract, do you think that he/she would refuse the bribe?”).

Figure ‎12.3. Refers to the question “If a public employee was offered money by a citizen or a firm for speeding up access to a public service, how likely do you think it is that they would refuse it?”.

Figure J.9.1 (Changes in perceptions of corruption among public employees, 2021 and 2023) is available in Annex J.

Figure ‎12.1. Perceptions of undue influence on elected officials, 2023

Share of population who find it likely or unlikely that a high-level political official would refuse a well-paid job in exchange for a political favour

Source: OECD Trust Survey, 2023, http://oe.cd/trust.

Statlink

Figure ‎12.2. Changes in perceptions of undue influence on elected officials, 2021 and 2023

Share of population who find it likely or unlikely that a high-level political official would refuse a well-paid job in exchange for a political favour

Source: OECD Trust Survey, 2021 and 2023, http://oe.cd/trust.

Statlink

Figure ‎12.3. Perceptions of corruption among public employees, 2023

Share of population who find it likely or unlikely that a public employee would refuse a bribe to speed up access to a public service

Source: OECD Trust Survey, 2023 http://oe.cd/trust.

Statlink