Recent claims about Bangladesh's position in global power rankings have gone viral on social media, causing confusion and widespread debate.
The claims, citing an article from the American outlet US News, suggest a dramatic shift in the country’s power status. However, fact-checking organizations and experts have refuted these claims.
According to US News, Bangladesh currently ranks 71st in its "Best Countries Overall" category. The rankings, published in September 2024, evaluated 89 nations across 73 attributes, categorised into ten subrankings such as Adventure, Agility, Cultural Influence, and Power, among others. Bangladesh ranked 47th in the "Power" subcategory. However, when it comes to the "International Influence Ranking" for 2023, Bangladesh ranked 76th.
In addition, Bangladesh holds the 35th position in the 2025 Global Firepower review, which assesses military strength, with a Power Index score of 0.6062, where a score of 0.0000 is considered perfect. In terms of military power in Asia, Bangladesh ranks 17th out of 45 nations.
Despite these rankings, a narrative has emerged on social media suggesting that Bangladesh has surged from 123rd to 47th in global power rankings under the interim government within just eight months. This claim has been widely circulated but lacks any credible data from 2025.
Further investigation reveals that the US News rankings referenced in these posts were not recent. Clicking on the survey link leads to a 2023 report. In that report, Bangladesh's ranking fluctuates between 69th, 65th, and 76th in the "International Influence Ranking", adding to the confusion.
Some social media users have touted Bangladesh's rise in power rankings, praising the interim government. However, others have pointed out discrepancies, suggesting the country’s position has fallen from 40th to 47th. Several posts were later deleted after users realised the inconsistencies in the information.
Youth and Sports adviser Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan also gave a post in this regard praising the government but later removed it.
Fact-checking platform Rumor Scanner addressed these contradictory claims, stating that both the "rise to 47th" and "fall from 40th" claims were inaccurate. It also debunked the narrative that Bangladesh had made a leap from 123rd to 47th, noting that Bangladesh first appeared in the rankings in 2022 when the list included only 123 countries.
As of now, US News has not released new rankings for 2025, with the next edition expected in September.
BDST: 1909 HRS, APR 09, 2025
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