MEXICO CITY — Mexicans spent a whopping $2.58 billion in bribes in 2007, some 42 percent more than they doled out just two years ago, according to a poll released Wednesday.
The survey, conducted by the nonprofit group Transparency Mexico, showed that 197 million bribes were paid nationwide in 2007 — compared with 115 million in 2005.
That’s nearly two bribes for every living Mexican, given the country’s population of about 105 million. Bribes ate up about 8 percent of family incomes here in 2007, the study said.
Bribes move about 10 percent of all government transactions — including those to obtain construction licenses, vehicle inspection stickers and street-vending permits.
Among the top 10 most frequent bribes people reported paying were to city tanker trucks that deliver drinking water to homes in poorer neighborhoods. Others paid to get their trash collected, their goods passed through customs and their cars out of police lots after they were towed.
