Corruption in Colombia

Corruption in Colombia is a pervasive problem at all levels of government, as well as in the military and police forces. A general culture and awareness of this corruption permeates society as a whole.

Various factors have contributed to political corruption in Colombia, including: drug trafficking, guerrilla and paramilitary conflict, weak surveillance and regulation from institutions, intimidation and harassment of whistle-blowers, and a widespread apathy from society to address unethical behavior.^{[citation needed]} The government is continuously taking steps to measure and reduce levels of corruption at all levels through anti-corruption policies. Initiatives have also been headed by the private sector in the interest of facilitating and encouraging business activities.

A Global Corruption Barometer survey from 2010 found that the institutions seen as most corrupt were the political parties and the parliament, followed by the police and public officials, the judiciary and the military.

Transparency International's 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, based on experts' and businesspeople's perceptions of corruption in the public sector, gave Colombia a score of 39 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Colombia ranked 92nd among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with regional scores, the best score among the countries of the Americas was 76, the average score was 42 and the worst score was 10. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 8 (ranked 180).

Practices of corruption that plague politics and the judicial system are, in part, rooted in the colonial legacies of the Spanish conquest. The Spanish Empire was known to possess a disorganised and corrupt bureaucracy, which was transplanted to its colonies, including Colombia. The first courts established by the Spaniards in America were also known to be corrupt and inefficient. For example, Colombia inherited an ineffective and distrusted legal system that fails to guarantee private property rights in order to promote economic investment. One of the primary ways colonial elites could make a fortune was through occupying important positions in the judicial bureaucracy of the colony and thereby capturing rents.

Between 1989 and 1999, corruption in Colombia is estimated to have cost the state 1% of its GDP annually. In addition to the economic cost of corruption, other aspects of Colombian society have been affected, such as the loss of credibility of politicians and the Colombian government, as well as the demoralization and disinterest of society at large in political participation.

Recent studies of criminal behavior in the country indicate that while the rate of crime grew annually by about 39.7%, the criminal behavior by officials in local and national government grew by 164.1%, and despite this increase, there are few convictions. The levels of administrative corruption are so high that, as of 2011, the media reports of such felonies overshadow the stories on terrorism or armed conflict.

A 2005 study published by Transparency for Colombia (Transparencia por Colombia) assessed the index of integrity of governments, assemblies, and comptrollers at the departmental level and concluded that none of those dependencies scored an appropriate level of integrity. 51% were prone to high or very high levels of corruption.