🇧🇩 People's Republic of Bangladesh (বাংলাদেশ)
Visiting: Take careLGBT visiting: Dangerous
Bangladesh is not a place to go unprepared. Same-sex relationships are criminalised, with penalties up to life imprisonment, which places it 162nd for LGBT rights, so LGBT travellers should weigh this carefully. Its best measures are only mid-range: violent crime is moderate, ranking 61st, and freedom is only partly protected, at 98th. Women's safety is fair, the roads are hazardous and there is significant exposure to conflict, all ranking between 109th and 135th.
Homicide
Intentional homicides per 100,000 people — lower is better.
Bangladesh: 1.9
Ranked 61st in the world for the lowest homicide rate.
Why this rank?
Under two killings per 100,000 people a year. That is low, though the safest countries sit under one.
Is it safe to visit?
Fine for a visitor as far as violence goes. The rate is well below the world average.
Why we updated the score?
The police have published their 2024 count. The UN copies the police's number a year later, so we used it now.
Road Fatalities
Road-traffic deaths per 100,000 people per year — lower is better.
Bangladesh: 18.6
Ranked 47th in the world for the deadliest roads.
Why this rank?
Nearly nineteen deaths per 100,000 people a year is above the world average of fifteen, though well short of double it.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe, in a vehicle or on foot. A third of the deaths are pedestrians.
Conflict
Conflict deaths inside the country in the last twelve months, as recorded by the Uppsala conflict database, civilians killed on purpose, and any UN sanctions or court order over a war. The worst of those sets the colour. Lower is better.
Bangladesh: 2.66
Ranked 46th most conflict-affected country in the world.
Why this rank?
11 people died in fighting inside Bangladesh in the year to July 2026, four of them civilians killed on purpose.
Is it safe to visit?
Take care on the Myanmar border and in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where 11 people died in the year to July 2026, four of them civilians. Dhaka's political clashes are counted under Homicide.
Freedom
Six freedoms rated 0–4 by Freedom House — protest, speech, press, religion, movement and due process. The weakest rating sets the colour, and the total places the country inside it — higher is better.
Bangladesh: 5.93
Ranked 83rd least free country in the world.
Why this rank?
In Bangladesh the lowest is due process at 1. Total 12 of 24.
Is it safe to visit?
In flux since the 2024 uprising toppled the old government. Civic space has reopened, but extralegal violence and political retribution continue, and due process is the low rating.
LGBT Rights
LGBT equality in law and daily life — higher is better.
Bangladesh: Life
Ranked 19th least equal in the world for LGBT people.
Why this rank?
Section 377, the colonial-era ban on gay sex, carries up to life imprisonment. Hijra, the traditional third-gender community, gained legal recognition in 2013, but gay life remains criminal. Red by law.
Is it safe to visit?
Not safe. The 2016 machete murders of two activists broke the visible movement, and what remains operates in fear.
Women's Safety
Women's safety — feeling safe out at night, political violence against women, a fair hearing in court, and how normal violence at home is, with the night figure setting a floor on the colour — higher is better.
Bangladesh: 6.83
Ranked 72nd least safe country in the world for women.
Why this rank?
Seventy-two percent of women feel safe out alone at night. The courts rate poorly for women, and partner violence in the past year is nearly one in four.
Is it safe to visit?
A woman travelling alone should take care in Bangladesh.