PolitiFact's ruling: False
Here's why: For more than a decade, an interesting statistic about the cost of corruption has been showing up in statements and reports from organizations like the United Nations and the World Economic Forum.
Most recently, it came out of the mouth of Vice President Kamala Harris.
"Around the world, we know that corruption inhibits shared prosperity," Harris said May 4, at a conference on the Americas. "In fact, the global cost of corruption is as much as 5% of the world's GDP."
How accurate is that number? While it’s an often-cited statistic, no one could tell us where the estimate ultimately comes from, or what data or research was used to come up with it.