A new nationwide survey has found that police, tenders and procurement, and the judiciary are perceived as the most corrupt sectors, according to the Transparency International corruption survey released last week.
The National Corruption Perception Survey 2025 reported that 77 percent of respondents across the country were dissatisfied with government efforts to curb corruption, reflecting widespread frustration with current accountability mechanisms.
According to provincial findings, dissatisfaction was highest in Balochistan at 80 percent, followed by Punjab at 78 percent, while Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa both recorded 75 percent public dissatisfaction levels.
However, the survey also carried a positive indicator, as 66 percent of citizens said they had not faced any situation that required them to pay a bribe for services recently.
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In economic matters, 57 percent of respondents believed their purchasing power had weakened during the past year, while 43 percent said that economic conditions had shown some level of improvement.
Despite financial pressures, 58 percent of citizens agreed that the government had stabilised the economy, crediting the IMF programme and Pakistan’s exit from the FATF monitoring list.
Public demand for political funding reforms was strong, with 42 percent wanting a complete ban on business financing of political parties, while 41 percent preferred regulated contributions under clear legal frameworks.
Fifty-five percent of the population said government advertisements should not feature political party names or photos of party leaders, aiming to separate state resources from political messaging.
Survey results showed provincial governments were seen as more corrupt than local governments, with 59 percent expressing distrust, rising sharply in Punjab where distrust reached 70 percent.
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Distrust of accountability institutions was also very high, as 78 percent of respondents said bodies like NAB and FIA should themselves be subject to strong accountability and public oversight.
The survey listed investigations lacking transparency, inadequate independent monitoring, and perceptions of political victimisation as the main reasons for public distrust in anti-corruption institutions.
National findings placed the police as the most corrupt sector at 24 percent, followed by tenders and procurement at 16 percent, while the judiciary ranked third with 14 percent corruption perception.
Provincial data showed Punjab recorded the worst perception of police corruption at 34 percent, followed by Balochistan at 22 percent, Sindh at 21 percent, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 20 percent.
Corruption concerns in procurement were highest in Balochistan at 23 percent, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded 18 percent, Sindh 14 percent, and Punjab remained lowest at 9 percent.
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Judicial corruption perception was highest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 18 percent and Punjab at 17 percent, with Sindh and Balochistan both recording 12 percent.
Despite the negative perceptions, 66 percent of people said they had personally not paid any bribe, although Sindh still recorded the highest bribery experience at 46 percent.
Citizens identified lack of accountability, poor transparency, and delays in corruption cases as leading reasons behind rising corruption trends across different institutions and services.
Provincial anti-corruption establishments performed poorly in public opinion, with 33 percent calling them completely ineffective and another 34 percent rating them less effective overall.
The health sector also recorded serious concerns, as 67 percent believed corruption there had major consequences, with hospitals, doctors and the pharmaceutical sector all facing strong public criticism.
A majority of citizens, 70 percent, said they were unaware of existing corruption-reporting mechanisms, and only 43 percent of the informed respondents had ever reported wrongdoing.
