Open Budget Survey

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.

Previous editions

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