Bangladesh has ranked 178th in the latest global bribery risk index, 2019 Trace Bribery Risk Matrix said.

According to the report, Bangladesh scored 72, surpassing other countries in South Asia.

This score is a composite of the four domain scores, which are weighted and combined to produce the overall country risk score.

In terms of risk score, India ranked 78th, Pakistan 153rd, Afghanistan 168th, and Myanmar ranked 157th in the index.

According to this year's Trace Matrix data, Somalia, South Sudan, North Korea, Yemen and Venezuela presented the highest risk of bribe demands.

New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland presented the lowest bribery risk.

Each country is given a score from 1 to 100 for each domain and for the total bribery risk. A higher score indicates a higher risk of business bribery.

Assessments of whether a given domain score is “good” or “poor” are made relative to all other jurisdictions within that domain.

1. Business Interactions with Government: Bangladesh receives a poor score of 86 in this domain, based on a high degree of government interaction, a high expectation of bribes, and a high regulatory burden.

2. Anti-bribery Deterrence and Enforcement: Bangladesh receives a poor score of 63 in this domain, based on low quality of anti-bribery dissuasion and a low quality of anti-bribery enforcement.

3. Government and Civil Service Transparency: Bangladesh receives a medium score of 60 in this domain, based on medium governmental transparency and poor transparency of financial interests.

4. Capacity for Civil Society Oversight: Bangladesh receives a poor score of 64 in this domain, based on a low degree of media freedom/quality and a low degree of civil society engagement.