Revisiting informal payments in 29 transitional countries: The scale and socio-economic correlates

•Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan ranked the highest for informal payments.•Being from a wealthier household is associated with more informal payments.•Experiencing lower quality of healthcare is associated with more informal payments.•Working for the government is associated with less informal payments.

This study assesses informal payments (IPs) in 29 transitional countries using a fully comparable household survey. The countries of the former Soviet Union, especially those in the Caucasus and Central Asia, exhibit the highest scale of IPs, followed by Southern Europe, and then Eastern Europe. The lowest and the highest scale of IPs were in Slovenia (2.7%) and Azerbaijan (73.9%) respectively. We found that being from a wealthier household, experiencing lower quality of healthcare in the form of long waiting times, lack of medicines, absence of personnel, and disrespectful treatment, and having relatives to help when needed, are associated with a higher odds ratio of IPs. Conversely, working for the government is associated with a lower odds ratio of IPs. Living in the countries of the former Soviet Union and in Mongolia is associated with the highest likelihood of IPs, and this is followed by the countries of the Southern Europe. In contrast, living in the countries of Eastern Europe is associated with the lowest likelihood of IPs.