Bangladesh has secured a better position than Pakistan, India, and even the United States in the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) 2025, marking a continued improvement in its security landscape.

With a score of 3.03, Bangladesh ranks 35th in the index, improving from its 32nd position in 2024.

The Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) released the report yesterday, analysing terrorism trends in 163 countries based on data from 2024.

Global Rankings and South Asian Context

According to the GTI, Burkina Faso remains the most terrorism-affected country scoring 8.5, Pakistan follows closely in second place with 8.3 points, while war-torn Syria ranks third with 8.0 points. Afghanistan, the only South Asian country in the top 10, ranks ninth with a score of 7.2.

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Paradoxes of terrorism in Bangladesh

Bangladesh's neighbours, Myanmar and India, rank among the top 15, with Myanmar at 11th place (6.9 points) and India at 14th (6.4 points). Meanwhile, the United States, with a score of 3.5, ranks just ahead of Bangladesh at 34th.

Sri Lanka and Bhutan recorded the best positions in South Asia, both scoring zero, indicating no impact of terrorism. Nepal ranks 68th with a score of 1.1.

The GTI measures terrorism impact on a scale of 10, with scores classified into five categories: 0 – no impact; 0 to 2 – very low impact; 2 to 4 – low impact; 4 to 6 – moderate impact; 6 to 8 – high impact; 8 to 10 – very high impact.

With a score of 3.03, Bangladesh falls under the "low impact" category, reflecting a lower terrorism threat compared to India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

The report identifies four terrorist organisations -- Islamic State (IS), Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and Al-Shabaab -- as responsible for the deadliest attacks in 2024.

The Sahel region of Africa remains the epicentre of global terrorism, accounting for more than half of all terrorism-related deaths last year. Notably, five of the ten worst-affected countries in 2024 were from this region.