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Bangladesh has advanced to the 149th position in Press Freedom Index in 2025 from 165th in 2024, surpassing India and Pakistan.
Bangladesh has moved up 16 spots among 180 countries in 2025 and is now ranked 149th, an improvement from 165th in 2024, according to report on web portals.
The country secured 33.71 points on the index, up from 27.64 last year, according to the World Press Freedom Index by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
In 2024, Bangladesh was only ranked higher than Afghanistan among South Asian nations. This year, Bangladesh has entered the top 150 for the first time since 2018, surpassing India, Pakistan, Bhutan, and Afghanistan in the region.
India is ranked 151st, while Pakistan is at 158th. India was ahead of Bangladesh in 2024, when it held the 159th position. Pakistan ranked 152th last year.
The change in government, following last year's anti-fascist uprising, likely played a significant role in Bangladesh surpassing its South Asian counterparts.
However, Bangladesh still trails behind Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, as it did in the previous year.
Norway leads the global list with a score of 92.31 points, followed by Estonia, Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland. It is worth noting that all of the top ten countries are in Europe.