South Africa has been bumped off the top of the naughty list when it comes to economic crime by India and China, according to a global survey by PwC.

China and India have emerged as economic powerhouses, but with fast-growing economies, such as these, being subject to concentrated attacks, the global impact is magnified, PwC said in its Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey released on Tuesday.

At least 69 per cent of the respondents in India had experienced fraud or an economic crime over a 24-month period, compared with 60 per cent for China and South Africa, and a global average of 47 per cent, the survey showed. India had not featured in the Top 10 before, PwC said.

While Africa’s most industrialized economy improved from 77 per cent in the previous survey, the incidence of higher-value serious economic crime doubled to 2 per cent. There has also been a disturbing increase in the level of involvement of senior management as the main perpetrator, escalating from 20 per cent in 2018 to 34 per cent in 2020, PwC said.