On a scale of one (meaning not at all corrupt) to five (meaning extremely corrupt), Croatian citizens gave the judiciary a mark of 4.4, the health system was marked 4.3, the economic sector 4.2, while representative bodies and political parties were each given a ranking of 4.1.
On the other hand, the Church and non-governmental organisations each earned a mark of 2.6 and the military was given a mark of 2.9, the survey revealed.
The survey was presented ahead of International Anti-Corruption Day, which is observed on December 9. The presentation was attended by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, the head of the European Commission Delegation to Zagreb, Vincent Degert, government ministers, members of Parliament, and several ambassadors accredited to Croatia.
According to TIH president Antun Petrovic, the survey is based on the public perception of the level of corruption, including citizens' personal experience or media reports on acts of corruption.
Petrovic announced that TIH's priorities in 2007, an election year in Croatia, would include monitoring the funding of political parties and public, especially military, procurement procedures.
Degert said that this year the Croatian government had made considerable efforts in combating corruption, one of the key criteria for the country's accession to the European Union. He added that the government, non-governmental organisations and citizens must continue working on changing the cultural pattern regarding corruption and creating zero tolerance for acts of corruption.
Sanader said that people involved in corruption were frustrating the progress of the whole country and striking a blow to the well-being of society as a whole.
Citing the National Anti-Corruption Programme as his government's main tool, Sanader announced a series of measures in the justice, health and public administration sectors, expressing hope that they would result in a more favourable TIH report on corruption in Croatia next year.