Public support for the Independent Commission Against Corruption remains strong, the latest annual survey reveals.

Conducted by an independent research agency on behalf of the ICAC last November, the survey randomly interviewed 1,504 people in Hong Kong to gauge their views towards corruption and the commission's work.

It found 98.6% of respondents feel the commission deserves their support and 75.6% believe it is impartial in conducting its investigations.

The survey also shows 66.2% of respondents thought the ICAC has not abused its powers - the highest proportion recorded since the question was first asked in 1993.

Up to 70% rated the commission's anti-corruption work effective or very effective.

Regarding public attitude towards graft, Hong Kong people are found to be increasingly intolerant of this social evil.

On a 0-10 point scale where 0 represents total rejection and 10 total tolerance of corruption, a mean score of 1.7 was recorded for corruption in the business sector while an even lower score of 1 for the civil service.

The mean scores for the two sectors were 2.1 and 1.3 respectively in the previous survey.

Public intolerance of corruption was also reflected in the high proportion of respondents (67%) who indicated their willingness to report graft. 

The survey also shows 36.8% of respondents anticipated that the level of corruption will increase next year.

About 48% of the respondents agreed that the ICAC has put sufficient efforts into making its work more transparent, up from 42.7% in last year's survey.