Corruption costs Mexico up to 10% of its GDP

Corruption costs Mexico between 2% and 10% of its GDP, i.e. between 26 billion and 130 billion dollars, the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (Imco) and the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) concluded in their study "Anatomy of Corruption".

It also cuts investments by about 5% and costs companies 5% of their annual sales.

The World Economic Forum estimates that the damage caused by corruption to Mexico's economy is 2% of its GDP, while the World Bank and the Bank of Mexico calculate the figure in 9% and the Center for Economic Studies of the Private Sector (CEESP) estimates it in 10%.

From 2004 to 2014, Mexico dropped from 64 to 103 in the International Transparency Ranking, while spending on anti-corruption institutions rose from 2.25 billion pesos to 4.43 billion pesos (US$147.9 million to US$291.4 million), according to María Amparo Casar, researcher at the CIDE.

Moreover, the latest KPMG survey on fraud and corruption shows that 44% of companies in Mexico admitted having paid a bribe, while 14% of the average household income is used for unofficial payments, according to Transparencia Mexicana.

Also the National Statistics Institute (INEGI) calculates that around 4 million acts of petty corruption are registered every year.

According to the National Survey on Government Quality and Impact conducted by the INEGI in 2013 showed that Mexico City, Jalisco and Michoacán have the highest corruption perception, while Querétaro, Yucatán and Aguascalientes have the lowest.