Corruption Assessment Report 2021: North Macedonia

In 2021, corruption raised as the largest problem for the citizens in North Macedonia, unlike previous years when the top three issues were unemployment, poverty and low incomes. Political instability for the first time is not on the list of top five problems citizens face. These are among the conclusions made by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC), in the Corruption Assessment Report 2021.

According to the findings of SELDI’s Corruption Monitoring System (CMS):

• A small number of citizens (4%) confess that they would pay a bribe, while 17% would pay a bribe if they could afford it.
• A total of 80% of the citizens of North Macedonia believe that the prevalence of corruption is dictated by the desire for personal enrichment of those in power.
• Although about one third of the citizens (33.7%) were exposed to corruption pressure, and 32.9% gave a bribe, the corruption remains unpunished. MCIC’s research shows that only 0.015% of the cases have ended up in convictions during 2021 .
• Nearly three-quarters of the citizens believe that there is a likelihood or high probability of corruption pressure in the future.
• Almost 33% of the citizens have full or partial confidence in the government’s will and ability to tackle corruption (confidence is 30% for the Ministry of Interior, and the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption is in third place with about 24%).
• Citizens trust in the courts is about 22%, and in the prosecution – about 23%.

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