Unlike in 2021 and 2023, when corruption was identified as the most serious social problem, in 2025 citizens in North Macedonia rank high prices as their primary concern (46.6%), with corruption close behind (40.1%). This indicates that inflation, rising living costs, and declining purchasing power are increasing economic insecurity, while corruption continues to be one of the key challenges facing society.
Although concern about corruption has declined compared to 2023, when it peaked at 63.5%, it remains ranked as the second most significant issue among the offered options. This reflects persistent distrust in institutions, governance, and accountability mechanisms in North Macedonia.
Regarding other issues, healthcare has, for the first time, entered the top five most important concerns for citizens, while political instability (15.2%) has declined in priority. Inter-ethnic problems (6.4%) and pollution (15.5%) continue to be among the least frequently cited problems.
Citizens identify the main causes of corruption as the desire for quick personal enrichment among those in power (77%), an inefficient judicial system (75%), the lack of strict administrative control (74%), and the failure to uphold the rule of law (73%). More than two-thirds of respondents believe that anti-corruption legislation is weak and insufficiently enforced, while the smallest share of respondents point to low wages in the public sector as a key contributing factor.
The survey reveals an increase in both exposure to corruption pressure and citizen involvement in corruption in 2025. Corruption pressure defined as situations in which citizens faced a request for, or a signal indicating an expectation of, a bribe was experienced by 36.7% of respondents, while 30.6% reported direct involvement in corruption. Compared to 2023, this represents an increase of more than five percentage points for both indicators. The gap between pressure and involvement in 2025 remains nearly unchanged, indicating stagnation in citizens’ resistance to corruption.
Projections suggest that approximately 536,000 adult citizens were asked for a bribe at least once, while more than 448,000 paid a bribe during the past year, pointing to the widespread nature of administrative corruption. Considering that these figures refer to individual cases, this implies at least 447,839 potential corrupt acts annually.
The “Corruption Assessment Report on North Macedonia 2025” was prepared by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) as part of the project “Civil Society for Good Governance and Anti-Corruption in Southeast Europe: Capacity Building for Evidence-Based Advocacy, Policy Impact and Citizen Engagement (SELDI.net)”, funded by the European Commission.
