In Mexico, 15.6% of people encountered corruption in contacts with authorities — survey
In Mexico, 15.6% of people who processed documents, made payments to government institutions, applied for public services or had other contacts with authorities in 2025 encountered corrupt practices. This is according to the results of the National Survey of Government Quality and Impact (ENCIG), published by Mexico News Daily.
The national statistics institute INEGI conducted the survey at the end of 2025 in 46,000 households. Its results were published in May.
States with the highest rates
Residents of Hidalgo most often reported corrupt practices in interactions with authorities: their share was 21.5% among those who had such contacts. Oaxaca followed with 20.3%, Sinaloa with 19.8%, Chihuahua with 18.4% and Sonora with 18.3%.
The lowest rates were recorded in Colima, at 7%. The figure was 8.9% in Nayarit, 9.4% in Zacatecas, 9.5% in Querétaro and 10.8% in Tamaulipas.
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Contacts with police and assessments of institutions
The most common situation in which respondents encountered corruption was contact with public security authorities, including the police. This was reported by 63.5% of respondents who had experienced corrupt practices. Such cases also occurred when obtaining real estate-related permits, in 32% of cases, and during other payments or the submission of documents or applications, in 29.3%.
Corrupt practices were also reported during procedures to open a business, at 23.5%, and when contacting federal or state prosecutors' offices, at 22.3%. Among the five most common situations, only cases during procedures to open a business became less frequent compared with 2023.
Respondents considered the police the institution where corruption occurs “very often” or “often”: 86.5% of those surveyed gave this answer. They were followed by political parties at 83.9%, prosecutors' offices at 75.3%, state governments at 74.1% and chambers of Congress at 73%.
According to respondents' assessments, corruption was least often considered widespread in public schools, at 31.8%. The figure was 36.9% for autonomous public organizations, 41.2% for civil society organizations, 43% for religious institutions and 46.1% for the army and navy.
