UK Corruption statistics
The amount of money laundered through the UK each year is estimated to be £48 billion (2% of UK GDP).
Source: Money Laundering Bulletin, June 2011
71% of UK citizens think corruption is a major problem in the UK
64% of people think corruption is part of the UK's business culture
33% of people think that bribery or abuse of power is widespread among the police
Source: The European Commission, Special Eurobarometer 374: Corruption, (2012)
Fraud is costing the UK around £73bn a year
Source: The National Fraud Authority, ‘Annual Fraud Indicator’, (2012)
'Internal fraudsters are now reported to be responsible for 53% of detected economic crime [in the UK public sector].’
Source: PwC, 'Fraud in public sector increases as cuts bite', 13/04/11
A 2005 Home Office report into drug smuggling into UK prisons found:
• that ‘via prison staff’ was the fourth most common route of drug supplying according to interviews with prisoners, former prisoners and prison staff
• 48% of interviewees identified staff as a route of supply.
Source: Penfold C., Turnball P.J. Webster R., (2005). Tackling prison drug markets: an exploratory qualitative study. Home Office, p. 15. Available online.
• that ‘via prison staff’ was the fourth most common route of drug supplying according to interviews with prisoners, former prisoners and prison staff
• 48% of interviewees identified staff as a route of supply.
Source: Penfold C., Turnball P.J. Webster R., (2005). Tackling prison drug markets: an exploratory qualitative study. Home Office, p. 15. Available online.
TI-UK research
In 2011 Transparency International UK published a 3-volume report, Corruption in the UK. The research is the most comprehensive of its kind. Some of the findings are listed below:
- Our research examined twenty-three sectors and institutions in the UK.
- 53.4% of respondents to our national opinion survey believe that corruption has increased either a little or a lot in the UK in the last three years; only 2.5% of respondents believe that corruption has decreased either a little or a lot.
- 48.1% of respondents do not think the government is effective in tackling corruption; just over one quarter of respondents (25.9%) feel the government is effective, and 25.9% are unsure.
- 92.7% of respondents would like to report corruption, but only 30.1% would know where to report it.
Background information
- There are at least 12 different agencies or government departments with partial responsibility for anti-corruption activities, plus more than 40 police forces, and it is unclear whether they share information, collaborate on investigations, or share good practice on corruption prevention.
- A leaked Metropolitan Police investigation in 2006 estimated that there are around 1000 corrupt prison officers currently working, with a further 600 officers being involved in an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner.
- In 2009 alone, there were 10,090 prosecutions under the 2006 Fraud Act, with no indication as to how many may have included some elements of corruption.
- In 2007, the Stevens Inquiry found that irregular payments had been involved in 17 football transfers.
- It is currently estimated that 38,000 people are involved in organised crime in the UK, and such activities cost the economy anywhere between £20 and £30 billion per year.
- Only 1.9% of respondents in our national opinion survey had paid a bribe in the past twelve months. Yet a 2006 survey for the construction sector found that 41% of respondents had personally been offered a bribe at least once in their career.
