In the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Democracy Index 2020, Bangladesh has made four steps forward.
With a score of 5.99, Bangladesh ranks 76th out of 165 countries and two regions in the EIU's Democracy Index. Last year, Bangladesh's score in this index was 5.88.
In 2020, the global average score on this index fell to 5.37 from 5.44 in the previous year. The Economist Intelligence Unit says this is the worst score since the index was released in 2006.
According to the report, the imposition of strict restrictions on countries in the midst of the epidemic has played a major role in the decline of the world's democracy.
According to the 2020 index, half (49.4 percent) of the world's population now enjoys democracy or partial democracy. Of these, only 4.8 percent people are enjoying full democracy.
This year's index says that India is in a better position than Bangladesh among the South Asian countries in terms of democracy. India is at number 53 in the list with a score of 6.61.
Sri Lanka is 68th with a score of 6.14; Bangladesh is 76th with a score of 5.99; Bhutan is 84th with a score of 5.71; Nepal is 92nd with a score of 5.22; Pakistan is 105th with a score of 4.31; Myanmar is 135th with a score of 3.04 and Afghanistan is 139th with a score of 2.85.
Norway is at the top of the list with a score of 9.81. Also in the top ten are Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Australia and the Netherlands.
