Cost due to corruption in both rich and developing countries is estimated at a whopping 1000 billion dollars a year, a World Bank Institute study has said.

Contrary to popular perception, the study revealed that “corruption is not simply a developing country problem” and fighting the menace is a global challenge.

It said that a country with a per capita income of USD 2,000 a year that addresses corruption, improves its governance and the rule of law could expect to see its income rise to USD 8,000 in the long run.

Otherwise, it will continue to be mired in poverty and squalor.

Daniel Kaufmann, the Institute’s director for Governance, said that this one trillion dollar figure is an estimate of actual bribes paid worldwide.

“It is important to emphasize,” he said, “that this is not simply a developing country problem. Fighting corruption is a global challenge.”

The one trillion dollar figure, calculated using 2001-02 economic data, compares with an estimated size of the world economy at that time of just over USD 30 trillion, Kaufmann said, and does not include embezzlement of public funds or theft of public assets.

IndiaExpress Bureau, April 15, 2004