The Open Budget Survey (OBS) is the only global indicator to measure and compare transparency, public participation, and oversight of the budget process internationally. This study, led by the International Budget Partnership (a Washington think tank) every two years, is conducted in a decentralized manner, with a team responsible for analyzing the national situation in each of the 117 countries participating in this initiative. In Portugal, the partner of this project is the Institute of Public Policy since the 2015 edition.
The conclusions of the OBS are the result of an objective and rigorous survey consisting of 145 research questions assessing three key areas: transparency, participation and oversight. To each country is assigned a score of 0 to 100 in these domains (which determines its ranking in the Open Budget Index), based on the analysis of the publicly available budget documentation.
There are eight budget key documents analyzed: Pre-Budget Statement, Executive Budget Proposal, Enacted Budget, Citizens Budget, In-year Report, Mid-year review, Year-end Report, and Audit Report.
Open Budget Survey 2021
The results are now available!
OBS 2021 | Global Report | Executive Summary | Portugal’s Open Budget Index |
The results of the Open Budget Survey 2021 were published on May 31 2022.
In an unprecedented way, the edition of the Open Budget Survey 2021 has integrated in its report a module regarding the behavior of countries regarding their response to the pandemic caused by COVID-19.
This exceptional module named “Managing COVID Funds. The Accountability Gap ”, came out at the end of May 2021.
OBS 2019 | Global Report | Executive Summary | Portugal’s Open Budget Index |
Event launching the OBS 2019 results – Video |
OBS 2017 | Global Report | Executive Summary | Portugal’s Open Budget Index |
OBS 2015 | Global Report | Executive Summary | Portugal’s Open Budget Index |
Team

Paulo Trigo Pereira
Senior research fellow – coordinator
Editions: 2015, 2021

Joana Andrade Vicente
research fellow – coordinator
Editions: 2017, 2019

Luís Teles Morais
Research Fellow
Editions: 2015, 2017, 2021

Alexandra Adão
Research Fellow
Editions: 2021