What is freedom of expression index in Bangladesh?

Freedom of expression index in Bangladesh was 0.527 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest freedom of expression index recorded in Bangladesh?

The highest recorded value was 0.768 in 1992.

What is the lowest freedom of expression index recorded in Bangladesh?

The lowest recorded value was 0.08 in 1878.

How does Bangladesh rank for freedom of expression index?

Bangladesh ranks 120th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is freedom of expression index rising or falling in Bangladesh?

Over the last ten years it is up 24.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.

Where does this Bangladesh data come from?

The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Expression Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Freedom of Expression Index in Bangladesh

Name: Freedom of Expression Index in Bangladesh
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Bangladesh: Freedom of Expression Index was 0.527 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)

0.527

Change on year

up 18.7%

World rank

120th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.768

in 1992

All-time low

0.08

in 1878

Years of data

237

1789–2025

Freedom of Expression Index in Bangladesh, 1789–2025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

Bangladesh recorded 0.527 for freedom of expression index in 2025.

The figure is up 18.7% on the previous year and up 24.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, freedom of expression index in Bangladesh peaked at 0.768 in 1992 and was at its lowest, 0.08, in 1878.

That places Bangladesh 120th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Freedom of Expression Index in Bangladesh, year by year

Annual values for Freedom of Expression Index in Bangladesh, 1789 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1789	0.156	—
1790	0.156	+0.0%
1791	0.156	+0.0%
1792	0.156	+0.0%
1793	0.156	+0.0%
1794	0.156	+0.0%
1795	0.156	+0.0%
1796	0.156	+0.0%
1797	0.156	+0.0%
1798	0.156	+0.0%
1799	0.156	+0.0%
1800	0.156	+0.0%
1801	0.156	+0.0%
1802	0.156	+0.0%
1803	0.156	+0.0%
1804	0.156	+0.0%
1805	0.156	+0.0%
1806	0.156	+0.0%
1807	0.156	+0.0%
1808	0.156	+0.0%
1809	0.156	+0.0%
1810	0.156	+0.0%
1811	0.156	+0.0%
1812	0.156	+0.0%
1813	0.156	+0.0%
1814	0.156	+0.0%
1815	0.156	+0.0%
1816	0.156	+0.0%
1817	0.156	+0.0%
1818	0.163	+4.5%
1819	0.163	+0.0%
1820	0.163	+0.0%
1821	0.163	+0.0%
1822	0.163	+0.0%
1823	0.163	+0.0%
1824	0.163	+0.0%
1825	0.163	+0.0%
1826	0.163	+0.0%
1827	0.163	+0.0%
1828	0.163	+0.0%
1829	0.163	+0.0%
1830	0.163	+0.0%
1831	0.163	+0.0%
1832	0.163	+0.0%
1833	0.163	+0.0%
1834	0.163	+0.0%
1835	0.163	+0.0%
1836	0.163	+0.0%
1837	0.163	+0.0%
1838	0.163	+0.0%
1839	0.163	+0.0%
1840	0.163	+0.0%
1841	0.163	+0.0%
1842	0.163	+0.0%
1843	0.163	+0.0%
1844	0.163	+0.0%
1845	0.163	+0.0%
1846	0.163	+0.0%
1847	0.163	+0.0%
1848	0.163	+0.0%
1849	0.163	+0.0%
1850	0.163	+0.0%
1851	0.163	+0.0%
1852	0.163	+0.0%
1853	0.163	+0.0%
1854	0.163	+0.0%
1855	0.163	+0.0%
1856	0.163	+0.0%
1857	0.163	+0.0%
1858	0.147	-9.8%
1859	0.147	+0.0%
1860	0.147	+0.0%
1861	0.147	+0.0%
1862	0.147	+0.0%
1863	0.147	+0.0%
1864	0.147	+0.0%
1865	0.147	+0.0%
1866	0.147	+0.0%
1867	0.147	+0.0%
1868	0.147	+0.0%
1869	0.147	+0.0%
1870	0.147	+0.0%
1871	0.147	+0.0%
1872	0.147	+0.0%
1873	0.147	+0.0%
1874	0.147	+0.0%
1875	0.147	+0.0%
1876	0.147	+0.0%
1877	0.135	-8.2%
1878	0.08	-40.7%
1879	0.08	+0.0%
1880	0.08	+0.0%
1881	0.182	+127.5%
1882	0.198	+8.8%
1883	0.282	+42.4%
1884	0.282	+0.0%
1885	0.282	+0.0%
1886	0.282	+0.0%
1887	0.282	+0.0%
1888	0.282	+0.0%
1889	0.282	+0.0%
1890	0.282	+0.0%
1891	0.282	+0.0%
1892	0.282	+0.0%
1893	0.282	+0.0%
1894	0.282	+0.0%
1895	0.282	+0.0%
1896	0.282	+0.0%
1897	0.282	+0.0%
1898	0.282	+0.0%
1899	0.282	+0.0%
1900	0.292	+3.5%
1901	0.292	+0.0%
1902	0.292	+0.0%
1903	0.292	+0.0%
1904	0.292	+0.0%
1905	0.292	+0.0%
1906	0.292	+0.0%
1907	0.292	+0.0%
1908	0.286	-2.1%
1909	0.286	+0.0%
1910	0.286	+0.0%
1911	0.286	+0.0%
1912	0.286	+0.0%
1913	0.286	+0.0%
1914	0.286	+0.0%
1915	0.286	+0.0%
1916	0.286	+0.0%
1917	0.286	+0.0%
1918	0.286	+0.0%
1919	0.286	+0.0%
1920	0.286	+0.0%
1921	0.286	+0.0%
1922	0.286	+0.0%
1923	0.286	+0.0%
1924	0.286	+0.0%
1925	0.286	+0.0%
1926	0.286	+0.0%
1927	0.286	+0.0%
1928	0.286	+0.0%
1929	0.286	+0.0%
1930	0.278	-2.8%
1931	0.278	+0.0%
1932	0.278	+0.0%
1933	0.278	+0.0%
1934	0.278	+0.0%
1935	0.276	-0.7%
1936	0.277	+0.4%
1937	0.277	+0.0%
1938	0.277	+0.0%
1939	0.277	+0.0%
1940	0.279	+0.7%
1941	0.279	+0.0%
1942	0.279	+0.0%
1943	0.279	+0.0%
1944	0.279	+0.0%
1945	0.422	+51.3%
1946	0.422	+0.0%
1947	0.435	+3.1%
1948	0.435	+0.0%
1949	0.435	+0.0%
1950	0.442	+1.6%
1951	0.442	+0.0%
1952	0.442	+0.0%
1953	0.442	+0.0%
1954	0.442	+0.0%
1955	0.442	+0.0%
1956	0.433	-2.0%
1957	0.433	+0.0%
1958	0.388	-10.4%
1959	0.369	-4.9%
1960	0.364	-1.4%
1961	0.364	+0.0%
1962	0.364	+0.0%
1963	0.364	+0.0%
1964	0.364	+0.0%
1965	0.364	+0.0%
1966	0.364	+0.0%
1967	0.364	+0.0%
1968	0.377	+3.6%
1969	0.394	+4.5%
1970	0.533	+35.3%
1971	0.443	-16.9%
1972	0.656	+48.1%
1973	0.619	-5.6%
1974	0.573	-7.4%
1975	0.268	-53.2%
1976	0.362	+35.1%
1977	0.524	+44.8%
1978	0.557	+6.3%
1979	0.586	+5.2%
1980	0.575	-1.9%
1981	0.571	-0.7%
1982	0.432	-24.3%
1983	0.401	-7.2%
1984	0.438	+9.2%
1985	0.438	+0.0%
1986	0.48	+9.6%
1987	0.48	+0.0%
1988	0.472	-1.7%
1989	0.468	-0.8%
1990	0.468	+0.0%
1991	0.735	+57.1%
1992	0.768	+4.5%
1993	0.768	+0.0%
1994	0.768	+0.0%
1995	0.768	+0.0%
1996	0.733	-4.6%
1997	0.741	+1.1%
1998	0.741	+0.0%
1999	0.741	+0.0%
2000	0.741	+0.0%
2001	0.747	+0.8%
2002	0.733	-1.9%
2003	0.739	+0.8%
2004	0.739	+0.0%
2005	0.739	+0.0%
2006	0.705	-4.6%
2007	0.563	-20.1%
2008	0.594	+5.5%
2009	0.597	+0.5%
2010	0.604	+1.2%
2011	0.568	-6.0%
2012	0.561	-1.2%
2013	0.48	-14.4%
2014	0.442	-7.9%
2015	0.422	-4.5%
2016	0.417	-1.2%
2017	0.385	-7.7%
2018	0.389	+1.0%
2019	0.357	-8.2%
2020	0.374	+4.8%
2021	0.371	-0.8%
2022	0.383	+3.2%
2023	0.343	-10.4%
2024	0.444	+29.4%
2025	0.527	+18.7%

Bangladesh compared with similar countries

Bangladesh's 0.527 is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.579, 91% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
Bangladesh's 0.527 is below the median for South Asia, which is 0.6885, 77% of the median. (6 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1780s	0.156	0.156	0.156	1
1790s	0.156	0.156	0.156	10
1800s	0.156	0.156	0.156	10
1810s	0.1574	0.156	0.163	10
1820s	0.163	0.163	0.163	10
1830s	0.163	0.163	0.163	10
1840s	0.163	0.163	0.163	10
1850s	0.1598	0.147	0.163	10
1860s	0.147	0.147	0.147	10
1870s	0.1324	0.08	0.147	10
1880s	0.2434	0.08	0.282	10
1890s	0.282	0.282	0.282	10
1900s	0.2908	0.286	0.292	10
1910s	0.286	0.286	0.286	10
1920s	0.286	0.286	0.286	10
1930s	0.2774	0.276	0.278	10
1940s	0.3544	0.279	0.435	10
1950s	0.4275	0.369	0.442	10
1960s	0.3683	0.364	0.394	10
1970s	0.5121	0.268	0.656	10
1980s	0.4755	0.401	0.575	10
1990s	0.7231	0.468	0.768	10
2000s	0.6897	0.563	0.747	10
2010s	0.4625	0.357	0.604	10
2020s	0.407	0.343	0.527	6

Countries ranked near Bangladesh

117 Libya 0.536 compare
118 Cameroon 0.532 compare
118 Kuwait 0.532 compare
121 Mozambique 0.518 compare
122 Comoros 0.498 compare
123 Angola 0.497 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Bangladesh

Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1.18 million (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 31,862 (2025)
Political Rights Rating 5 (2025)
Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 5 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0002 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 31,862 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0067 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)

All data for Bangladesh →

Frequently asked questions

What is freedom of expression index in Bangladesh?: Freedom of expression index in Bangladesh was 0.527 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest freedom of expression index recorded in Bangladesh?: The highest recorded value was 0.768 in 1992.
What is the lowest freedom of expression index recorded in Bangladesh?: The lowest recorded value was 0.08 in 1878.
How does Bangladesh rank for freedom of expression index?: Bangladesh ranks 120th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is freedom of expression index rising or falling in Bangladesh?: Over the last ten years it is up 24.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Bangladesh data come from?: The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Expression Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Freedom of Expression Index in Bangladesh. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 07 November 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/freedom-of-expression-index/bangladesh/

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About this data

Indicator: Freedom of Expression Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 30,035 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 30 October 2026

Central estimate of the extent to which people can discuss political matters at home and in the public sphere, the press, and media are free and can present different political perspectives, and the freedom of academic and cultural expression.