Bangladesh has been ranked the 13th most corrupt country in the world, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2025 released by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB).
During a press conference at the organisation’s Dhanmondi office on Tuesday morning, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman revealed that Bangladesh scored 24 out of 100, a figure that remains significantly lower than the global average score of 42.
While the score actually improved by one point compared to the previous year, Bangladesh’s position in the global ranking deteriorated by one step, falling from 14th to 13th place from the bottom.
Iftekharuzzaman explained that the marginal improvement in the score was influenced by a positive assessment of the July mass uprising. However, he noted that the overall ranking fell due to weaknesses in the reform process, the continued spread of corruption at the field level, and a persistent lack of transparency in governance.
He further remarked that the interim government has been unable to establish a standard for transparency and accountability, suggesting that a significant opportunity for meaningful anti-corruption change has been squandered.
On the global stage, Denmark remains the least corrupt country with a score of 89, followed by Finland with 88 and Singapore with 84. Conversely, South Sudan and Somalia are ranked as the most corrupt with scores of 9, followed by Venezuela with 10, while Yemen, Libya, and Eritrea share the third-lowest position with scores of 13.
Within South Asia, Bhutan leads the region with a score of 71, while India and the Maldives both scored 39, followed by Sri Lanka at 35, Nepal at 34, Pakistan at 28, and Afghanistan at 16. The CPI measures corruption on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 represents the highest perceived corruption and 100 the lowest.
