Bangladesh ranks 13th in corruption in 2025, slips one notch despite higher score

Bangladesh has ranked 13th among the world’s most corrupt countries in 2025, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

Among 182 countries surveyed, Bangladesh scored 24 out of 100, well below the global average score of 42.

Although Bangladesh’s score improved by one point compared to the previous year, its overall position in the global ranking slipped by one place.

In 2024, Bangladesh ranked 14th on the list of the most corrupt countries.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) released the CPI 2025 at a press conference held at its office in Dhanmondi, Dhaka on Tuesday morning.

TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman presented the findings, which reflect the prevailing state of corruption in the country.

Explaining why Bangladesh’s ranking fell despite the improvement in score, Iftekharuzzaman said, “The one-point increase is due to a positive assessment of the July mass uprising. However, weaknesses in the reform process, corruption at the field level, and other factors have resulted in an overall decline of one position. The interim government failed to set an example of transparency. We missed a major opportunity.”

According to Transparency International’s CPI 2025, Denmark topped the list as the least corrupt country with a score of 89. Finland ranked second with 88 points, followed by Singapore in third place with a score of 84.

At the other end of the scale, South Sudan and Somalia jointly ranked as the most corrupt countries, each scoring 9. Venezuela followed with a score of 10, while Yemen, Libya and Eritrea jointly occupied the third-lowest position with scores of 13.

In South Asia, among the eight countries assessed in the CPI 2025, Bhutan scored the highest with 71 out of 100. India and the Maldives each scored 39, followed by Sri Lanka with 35, Nepal with 34, Pakistan with 28, and Afghanistan with 16.

Under the CPI methodology, perceived levels of corruption are measured on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 indicates the highest level of perceived corruption and 100 represents the lowest.