Corruption has attracted increased and intensive consideration in the discourse about the development agenda in recent years. Beyond being an ethical problem, corruption is also a governance and development challenge. Increasingly, the socio-economic and market-related costs of corruption are being recognised. At all levels, actors are taking steps to ameliorate the corrosive effects of corruption on governance and development. This paper shows that corruption inhibits the establishment of a healthy marketplace, fosters mismanagement in public institutions, and distorts and undermines development. The most vulnerable sections of the population experience the worst effects of corruption. This paper delineates the consequences of corruption on development.