According to a survey conducted by Transparency International (TI) one in three Nepalis paid a bribe last year, which is higher than the global average of one in every four.
The survey in Nepal found political parties most corrupt (70 per cent, up from 53 per cent in 2011) and the media least (14 per cent, up from 10 per cent in 2011). Up to 40 per cent respondents said they had given bribes at land reform offices.
TI has been conducting the biennial Global Corruption Barometer surveys since 2003, and Nepal has taken part since 2011. 114,000 people in 105 countries responded in 2013.
Forty-seven per cent of Nepali respondents said corruption has increased in the last two years, 69 per cent labelled corruption in public services as a bad problem, and 42 per cent said they needed contacts to get things done. Up to 62 per cent replied the government's measures to check graft was inefficient.
The survey made the following overall conclusions: public institutions were most corrupt, governments did little to bring the guilty to justice, and powerful people were seen to be driving the government's actions. Nine in 10 people admitted they would like to see a change in this, and 66 per cent of those asked for a bribe refused.