Bangladesh ranks below several African economies in rule of law despite a slight improvement in its overall score this year, according to the Rule of Law Index 2026 released today (21 October).
Bangladesh ranked 123rd among 143 countries and jurisdictions in the World Justice Project (WJP) index, behind Zimbabwe (122nd), Nigeria (120th), Sierra Leone (110th), Liberia (103rd), Kenya (100th) and Ghana (62nd).
Its score rose 0.6% to 0.393 out of 1 from 0.391 in 2025, making Bangladesh the world's 15th-biggest improver and South Asia's top gainer. Its ranking improved two places from 125th, but its score remained below the global average of 0.55.
The index scores countries from 0 to 1 across eight factors: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice and criminal justice.
Bangladesh improved in only three factors – constraints on government powers, absence of corruption and regulatory enforcement – while its performance declined in the other five.
Fundamental rights have been its weakest area, with Bangladesh ranking 133rd and scoring 0.30, placing it among the 11 lowest-ranked countries.
The indicator assesses protection of fundamental human rights under international law. Civil justice ranked second-weakest at 132nd, with a score of 0.36, measuring access to grievance resolution through the civil justice system.
Bangladesh ranked 124th in regulatory enforcement, scoring 0.40, and 117th in criminal justice, with 0.32. In the absence of corruption, which measures bribery, improper influence and misappropriation of public resources, it ranked 113th with 0.35.
The country ranked 111th in constraints on government powers, which measures accountability under the law, scoring 0.38.
Open government was its highest-ranked factor at 106th, with a score of 0.41. It assesses government transparency, accountability mechanisms and citizen participation in public policy deliberations.
Bangladesh ranked 107th in order and security, scoring 0.63. The factor measures how effectively a society protects individuals and property.
Rule of law weakens over five years
Despite its annual improvement, Bangladesh's overall rule of law score fell 0.8% between 2021 and 2026, declining from 0.40 to around 0.39, according to the World Justice Project's (WJP) country profile.
Six of the index's eight factors deteriorated over the five years. Civil justice recorded the sharpest decline at 4.2%, followed by open government at 2.8%, fundamental rights at 1.5%, regulatory enforcement at 0.9%, criminal justice at 0.7% and absence of corruption at 0.2%. Constraints on government powers and order and security improved by 2.3% and 0.6%, respectively.
Human rights activist and Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua attributed the deterioration partly to worsening law and order.
"We had expected that an elected government would be able to turn things around to some extent, as the interim government had failed to maintain or restore control over the law and order situation," he said.
"However, the elected government has been trying to bring the entire situation under control at once, and the pressure associated with this has contributed to instability. Law enforcement is also closely linked to the justice system, and our overall performance in these areas has deteriorated," he added.
Bangladesh ranks third-lowest in South Asia
Nepal once again emerged as South Asia's top performer, ranking 71st globally with a score of 0.52, followed by Sri Lanka at 74th and India at 88th. Bangladesh is ahead of only Pakistan (131st) and Afghanistan (142nd) in the region.
Denmark topped the 2026 index, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden and Luxembourg. Venezuela ranked last, preceded by Afghanistan, Haiti, Cambodia and Nicaragua.
The index drew on data from more than 215,000 households and 3,400 surveys of legal practitioners and experts across 143 countries and jurisdictions, collected between February and August 2026.
The World Justice Project highlighted links between the rule of law and economic prosperity. Countries with GDP per capita above the global average of $14,406 scored at least 0.68 on the index, while those with inflation below the global median of 3.23% scored at least 0.60, indicating an association between the rule of law, price stability and economic performance.