Corruption in Kosovo

According to several public surveys in Kosovo and reports from institutions such as the European Commission, levels of corruption and impunity among politicians are high.

Perceptions
On Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, Kosovo scored 41 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Kosovo ranked 83rd among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the average score was 43, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180). For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Eastern European and Central Asian countries was 53, the average score was 35 and the lowest score was 18.

Dynamics
The European Commission reports that electoral fraud persists in Kosovo representing serious shortcomings in the electoral process. Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2013 points out that political parties are considered the second most corrupt institution in Kosovo by a significantly high number of households, second only to the judiciary.

Corruption is considered the largest obstacle to doing business in Kosovo, and businesses frequently resort to bribes when interacting with public officials. Sectors such as customs, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water supply are identified as those most affected by corruption. There are a number of burdensome and costly procedures for companies to undergo in order to obtain business licences and permits, these lead to increased opportunities for corruption.