Corruption and bribery are becoming more widespread globally, said a survey of 114,000 people across 107 countries made by Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International.

Both are prevalent in developed and underdeveloped nations, with more than half of the respondents observing that corruption has worsened in the past years, while 27 per cent admitted paying bribes to gain access to public services and agencies.

The Global Corruption Barometer 2013 identified the top 5 corrupt institutions, and it is not a surprise that the police topped the list. It was followed by judges, public officials and civil servants, political parties and citizens.

Among the extreme cases of police corruption listed in the report were cartels paying Mexican municipal police $100 million monthly and 93 per cent of the respondents view traffic policemen as corrupt. One a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being extremely corrupt, the police got a 3.7 rating.

For judges, in 20 countries, residents believe their judiciary is the most corrupt institution, while 30 per cent of the respondents from those nations admitted they had to bribe judges for their cases to be judged in their favour.

Government officials received a rating of 3.6 for corruption, and the study identified those as most corrupt in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iraq, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia.

For political parties, those found in Argentina, Greece, Colombia, the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, Vanuatu, Uruguay and Jamaica were considered the most corrupt. Citizens of 51 counties said their political parties are corrupt.

The corruption persists because of hesitation by 21 per cent of the survey respondents to report the incidents, while 16 per cent would rather be mum.

By country, the highest bribery rates are in Africa, indicating a link between political corruption and poverty. Corruption in most Arab countries also became worse since the 2011 revolutions with 64 per cent of Egyptian respondents saying it worsened, while among Tunisians it was 80 per cent.

One bright spot, though, is that more people are rejecting bribery with two-thirds stating that they turned down requests to pay a bribe.

"Bribe paying levels remain very high worldwide, but people believe they have the power to stop corruption and the number of those willing to combat the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery is significant, Transparency International Chair Huguetee Labelle said.