A European Parliamentary group has worked out that corruption in Portugal is costing €18.2 billion per year, or about 7.9% of gross domestic product.
Portugal is reported to be the 11th most corrupt country in the EU ranking in monetary terms, but when measured as a percentage of GDP, Portugal is the 17th most penalised country.
The information comes from a report presented by the Greens and the European Free Alliance. In the section relating to Portugal, the report states that the amount lost to corruption exceeds the annual health budget (€16.2 billion) and is ten times higher than unemployment benefits (€1.8 billion).
If the €18.2 billion was distributed among the Portuguese population, each would have €1,763 per year.
According to a Eurostat survey in 2017, 54% of Portuguese respondents believed that the level of corruption in the country had increased in the previous three years, 29% stated that they thought it was the same and 4% imagined there had been a decreased.
The survey also showed that 92% believed that corruption was widespread in the country and 79% said that corruption was part of the business culture in Portugal.
The study adds up the total cost of corruption in EU states, a total of €904 billion annually.
Italy is the clear leader with an annual cost of corruption of €237 billion, 13% of Italian GDP and 26% of the total EU losses from corruption.
Next is France, with an annual loss of €120 billion, followed by Germany, with losses of €104 billion.
When the relative weight of corruption is measured, taking into account the GDP of each country, the clear winner is Romania which loses €38.6 billion, some15.6% of the country's wealth.
On the positive side, the Netherlands stands out, where the € 4.4 billion lost annually to corruption represents only 0.76% of GDP. The other countries with the lowest percentages are Denmark and Luxembourg, both with 2%, the United Kingdom with 2.3%, and Finland with 2.5%.
You can find the report HERE
