Dhaka has slightly improved in the latest edition of Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s Safe Cities Index (SCI), rising from the third least safe city to the fifth least safe city in the world.
Last year, it occupied the third position from the bottom.
The city "fared poorly on digital security, health security, infrastructure security and personal security indicators", according to the report.
The four other cities ranking below Dhaka are: Karachi, Yangon, Caracas and Lagos, respectively. The top five cities on the index are: Tokyo, Singapore, Osaka, Amsterdam and Sydney.
Dhaka ranked on the second least position in the infrastructure security category.
The Safe Cities Index 2019 is a report from The Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by NEC Corporation. The report is based on the third iteration of the index, which ranks 60 cities across 57 indicators covering digital security, health security, infrastructure security and personal security.
Findings from the index were supplemented with wide-ranging research and in-depth interviews with experts in the field, according to the EIU report.
Six cities in the Asia Pacific moved into the top 10 in the index this year. Besides Tokyo, Singapore, and Osaka (third), they were Sydney (fifth), Seoul (eighth) and Melbourne (10th). Rounding out the list were Amsterdam (fourth), Toronto (sixth), Washington DC (seventh) and Copenhagen (which tied with Seoul for eighth).
A total of 10 new indicators were added this year, including the existence and speed of emergency services, the existence of a disaster plan and the ability to defend infrastructure against cyber attacks, the report added.