Democracy Index: Bangladesh slips one notch
The democracy situation in Bangladesh has deteriorated further as the country slipped by one rank to the 147th spot in the Liberal Democracy Index, according to the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute of Sweden.
A report styled "Defiance in the face of autocratization" placed Bangladesh in the "Electoral Autocracies" category along with 55 other countries, including India, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey.
Bangladesh was placed in the same category in the last year's report.
The country scored 0.11 on Liberal Democracy Index, down by 0.02 from the previous year, said the report released on Thursday.
In the Electoral Democracy Index, Bangladesh this year ranked 131st with a score of 0.28, down by 0.03 from the previous year.
"72 percent of the world's population -- 5.7 billion people -- now live in electoral or closed autocracies. That is an increase from 46 percent ten years ago. This fact is another reminder of how the wave of autocratization is unfolding across the world," the report.
It mentioned that only 13 percent population of the world lives in liberal democracies.
V-Dem Institute of Gothenburg University in Sweden has been publishing the democracy report for the last seven years.
"Türkiye is another country that went from democracy to autocracy and increased its share of global GDP from 1.3% to 2.1%. Bangladesh, Nigeria, and the Philippines are other countries that are part of this trend," the report said.
A total of 33 countries, including Iran, China, Myanmar, and North Korea, have been placed in the "Closed Autocracies" category while 32 in the "Liberal Democracies" category and 58 in the "Electoral Democracies" category.
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Estonia, and New Zealand are placed in the top five positions while North Korea is at the bottom.
The report said freedom of expression was deteriorating in 35 countries in 2022. Ten years ago, the figure was seven.
It also said government censorship of the media was worsening in 47 countries while government repression of civil society organisations was worsening in 37 countries.
According to the report, the quality of elections is worsening in 30 countries.
India was placed in the 97th spot on the Liberal Democracy Index and 108th on the Electoral Democracy Index. Pakistan ranked 106th and 110th on the two indexes respectively.
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