Bangladesh has ranked 13th among the world’s most corrupt countries in 2025, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
Out of 182 countries assessed, Bangladesh scored 24 out of 100, significantly below the global average score of 42. Based on the overall ranking, the country stands at 150th position.
Although Bangladesh’s score has improved by one point compared to last year, its overall ranking has slipped by one place. In the 2024 CPI, Bangladesh ranked 14th among the most corrupt countries.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) unveiled the CPI 2025 at a press conference held on Tuesday morning at its office in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman presented the key findings of the index, highlighting the state of corruption in the country.
Explaining the contradiction between the improved score and the drop in ranking, Iftekharuzzaman said the one-point increase was largely due to the positive assessment of the July mass uprising.
However, weaknesses in the reform process, persistent corruption at the field level, and other structural issues led to an overall decline in Bangladesh’s position.
“The interim government failed to set an example of transparency. We lost a major opportunity,” he said.
According to the CPI 2025, Denmark topped the list as the least corrupt country with a score of 89. Finland ranked second with a score of 88, followed by Singapore in third place with 84 points.
At the other end of the spectrum, South Sudan and Somalia jointly ranked as the most corrupt countries, each scoring 9. Venezuela ranked second from the bottom with a score of 10, while Yemen, Libya and Eritrea jointly placed third lowest, each scoring 13.
Among South Asian countries, Bhutan emerged as the best performer with a score of 71. India and the Maldives both scored 39, while Sri Lanka scored 35, Nepal 34, Pakistan 28, and Afghanistan 16.
The Corruption Perceptions Index measures perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 indicates extremely high levels of corruption and 100 signifies a very clean public sector.
