Paper

Open Budget Survey 2017

January 2018 | by International Budget Partnership

The International Budget Partnership’s Open Budget Survey (OBS) is the world’s only independent, comparative assessment of the three pillars of public budget accountability: transparency, oversight and public participation. The Open Budget Survey 2017 evaluated 115 countries across six continents, adding 13 new countries to the survey since the last round in 2015. Independent researchers in each country evaluated:

  • Budget transparency: the amount, level of detail, and timeliness of budget information governments are making publicly available. Countries are given a score between 0 and 100 that determines their ranking on the Open Budget Index. After 10 years of steady progress by countries, the 2017 survey shows a modest decline in average global budget transparency scores, from 45 in 2015 to 43 in 2017 for the 102 countries that were surveyed in both rounds.
  • Budget participation: the opportunities governments provide to civil society and the general public to engage in decisions about how public resources are raised and spent. The 2017 survey revealed that most countries fail to provide meaningful opportunities for the public to participate in the budget process.
  • Budget oversight: the capacity and authority of formal institutions (such as legislatures and supreme audit institutions) to understand and influence how public resources are being raised and spent. The 2017 survey found that only 32 countries’ legislatures (28 percent) have adequate oversight practices.

Jump to: Full ReportsOpen Budget Index Rankings | Executive Summaries | Key Findings | Country Summaries | Infographic | Methodology | Questionnaire and Guidelines | Datasets | Other Resources

Full Reports

The Open Budget Survey 2017 full report is the most comprehensive resource available on the findings and recommendations of this global assessment of budget transparency, participation, and oversight. It includes detailed information on the key findings, country rankings, research methodology, and more.

Open Budget Index Rankings

The Open Budget Index is the world’s only independent and comparative measure of budget transparency. The Open Budget Index scores each country from 0 to 100, based on the average responses to the 109 indicators the Open Budget Survey uses to measure budget transparency. These indicators are used to assess whether the central government makes eight key budget documents available to the public in a timely manner and whether the information contained in these documents is comprehensive and useful.

Executive Summaries

Adapted from the complete report of the Open Budget Survey 2017, the executive summary brings together the survey’s global findings with recommendations for governments, and civil society, and donors to improve budget transparency, participation, and oversight in budget processes around the world.

Key Findings

This short summary focuses on key findings from the Open Budget Survey 2017.

Country Summaries

Country Summaries

Individual Open Budget Survey country summaries are available for download on each country’s results page.

Infographic

Key findings from the Open Budget Survey 2017, visualized.

Methodology

Learn more about the research methodology used for the Open Budget Survey 2017.

Questionnaires & Questionnaire Guidelines

The results for each country in the Open Budget Survey 2017 are based on a questionnaire, comprising 145 scored questions, that is completed by independent researchers typically based in the country surveyed. Almost all of the researchers responsible for completing the questionnaire are from academic institutions or civil society organizations that have a common interest in promoting transparent and responsive budgeting practices in their countries.

Datasets
Media Resources

Related

Full reports, rankings, and other publications from previous rounds of the Open Budget Survey can be found at the links below:

Downloads

open budget survey 2017 report english.pdf

pdf, 2.49 MB

open budget survey 2017 report arabic.pdf

pdf, 4.45 MB

open budget survey 2017 report french.pdf

pdf, 4.39 MB

open budget survey 2017 report portuguese.pdf

pdf, 2.91 MB

open budget survey 2017 report russian.pdf

pdf, 4.44 MB

open budget survey 2017 report spanish.pdf

pdf, 4.36 MB

open budget survey 2017 OBIrankings.pdf

pdf, 0.06 MB

open budget survey 2017 executive summary english.pdf

pdf, 0.73 MB

open budget survey 2017 executive summary arabic.pdf

pdf, 0.34 MB

open budget survey 2017 executive summary french.pdf

pdf, 0.38 MB

open budget survey 2017 executive summary portuguese.pdf

pdf, 0.38 MB

open budget survey 2017 executive summary russian.pdf

pdf, 0.32 MB

open budget survey 2017 executive summary spanish.pdf

pdf, 0.38 MB

open budget survey 2017 key findings english.pdf

pdf, 0.11 MB

open budget survey 2017 key findings french.pdf

pdf, 0.12 MB

open budget survey 2017 key findings spanish.pdf

pdf, 0.10 MB

open budget survey 2017 methodology english.pdf

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open budget survey 2017 methodology french.pdf

pdf, 0.11 MB

open budget survey 2017 methodology portuguese.pdf

pdf, 0.11 MB

open budget survey 2017 methodology spanish.pdf

pdf, 0.12 MB

open budget survey 2017 guide and questionnaire english.pdf

pdf, 1.04 MB

open budget survey 2017 questionnaire and guidelines arabic.pdf

pdf, 1.04 MB

open budget survey 2017 guide and questionnaire french.pdf

pdf, 1.03 MB

open budget survey 2017 questionnaire and guidelines portuguese.pdf

pdf, 0.97 MB

open budget survey 2017 questionnaire and guidelines russian.pdf

pdf, 1.24 MB

open budget survey 2017 guide and questionnaire spanish.pdf

pdf, 0.98 MB

open budget survey 2017 data codebook.pdf

pdf, 0.16 MB

open budget survey 2017 press release english.pdf

pdf, 0.09 MB

open budget survey 2017 press release arabic.pdf

pdf, 0.09 MB

open budget survey 2017 press release french.pdf

pdf, 0.10 MB

open budget survey 2017 press release portuguese.pdf

pdf, 0.08 MB

open budget survey 2017 press release russian.pdf

pdf, 0.12 MB

open budget survey 2017 press release spanish.pdf

pdf, 0.08 MB

open budget survey 2017 data excel.xlsx

xlsx, 0.18 MB

open budget survey 2017 data stata.zip

zip, 0.04 MB
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