Bangladesh Drops to 13th Most Corrupt Country in 2025: Transparency International

Bangladesh has slipped one position to rank 13th among the world’s most corrupt countries in 2025, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2025, which assessed 182 countries.

Bangladesh scored 24 out of 100, significantly below the global average score of 42. Although the country’s score increased by one point compared to the previous year, its overall ranking worsened due to slower progress relative to other countries. In 2024, Bangladesh ranked 14th on the list of most corrupt nations.

The report was officially released on Tuesday morning (10 February) at a press conference held at the office of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in Dhanmondi, Dhaka.

Presenting the findings, TIB Executive Director Dr. Iftekharuzzaman said the one-point improvement was partly influenced by a positive international assessment of the July mass uprising. However, he noted that weaknesses in state reform processes and the unchanged reality of corruption at the grassroots level contributed to Bangladesh’s decline in the global ranking.

He explained that the CPI measures perceived levels of public-sector corruption on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the highest level of corruption and 100 indicates the lowest.

In the 2025 index, Denmark topped the list as the least corrupt country in the world with a score of 89, followed by Finland with 88 and Singapore with 84.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, South Sudan and Somalia jointly ranked as the most corrupt countries, each scoring just 9. Venezuela ranked second from the bottom with a score of 10, while Yemen, Libya, and Eritrea jointly occupied the third-lowest position with scores of 13. These rankings highlight the continued severity of corruption across large parts of the world.

Among the eight South Asian countries assessed, Bhutan performed best with a score of 71. India and the Maldives each scored 39, followed by Sri Lanka with 35, Nepal with 34, Pakistan with 28, and Afghanistan with 16. Bangladesh’s position is considered the second most concerning in South Asia, ranking just above Afghanistan.

Transparency International Bangladesh emphasized that meaningful progress in curbing corruption will require breaking away from the culture of impunity, ensuring accountability, and implementing comprehensive reforms across all sectors.