Times of Better Bharat

Bharat, in perspective — every morning · est. 2026

India and Bangladesh

Every measure where both countries carry a figure — 121 of them. India is ahead on 82 and behind on 39.

“Ahead” means better on that measure’s own terms: higher where higher is better, lower where lower is better. The years can differ between the two countries, because coverage is ragged — each figure carries its own.

Other comparisons

China · United States · Japan · Germany · Brazil · Indonesia · South Africa · Vietnam · Pakistan · Sri Lanka · Nepal · all twelve at once

Economy

MeasureIndiaBangladesh
GDP, current US$
US$
$4.0T
2025
$456B
2025
▲ 8.7×
GDP growth
% per year
7.6%
2025
3.5%
2025
▲ 2.2×
GNI per capita, Atlas method
US$
$2,760
2025
$2,840
2025
▼ 1.0×
GDP per capita, PPP
international $
$11,748
2025
$10,154
2025
▲ 1.2×
Central government debt
% of GDP
46.5%
2018
31.2%
2003
▼ 1.5×
Consumer price inflation
% per year
2.4%
2025
8.8%
2025
▲ 3.7×
Foreign direct investment, net inflows
US$
$41B
2025
$2B
2025
▲ 22.9×
Unemployment rate
% of labour force
4.2%
2025
3.8%
2025
▼ 1.1×
External debt stock
US$
$716B
2024
$104B
2024
▼ 6.9×
Extreme poverty
% below $2.15/day
2.6%
2023
5.9%
2022
▲ 2.3×
Poverty at $3.65 a day
% below $3.65/day
16.1%
2023
20.5%
2022
▲ 1.3×
Income inequality (Gini)
Gini index (0 = equal)
23
2023
30.9
2022
▲ 1.3×
Tax revenue
% of GDP
6.9%
2022
7.6%
2021
▼ 1.1×
Manufacturing output
% of GDP
13.5%
2025
22.4%
2025
▼ 1.7×
Exports of goods and services
% of GDP
22.3%
2025
11.1%
2025
▲ 2.0×
Investment rate
% of GDP
34.6%
2025
28.5%
2025
▲ 1.2×
Foreign-exchange reserves
months of imports
7.85
2025
3.91
2025
▲ 2.0×
Remittances received
US$
$151B
2025
$34B
2025
▲ 4.4×
Labour-force participation
% of population 15+
55.7%
2025
58.8%
2025
▼ 1.1×
Women in the labour force
% of women 15+
32.4%
2025
38.6%
2025
▼ 1.2×
Cereal yield
kg per hectare
3,633
2024
5,408
2024
▼ 1.5×
Current account balance
% of GDP
-0.5%
2025
-0.0%
2025
▼ 11.5×
Share of world goods exports
% of world merchandise exports
1.8%
2024
0.2%
2024
▲ 9.5×
International tourist arrivals
arrivals
98,24,000
2024
1,35,000
2021
▲ 72.8×
Farm output per worker
US$ (constant 2015)
2,159
2025
1,236
2025
▲ 1.7×
Index of Economic Freedom
score (0-100)
52.5
2026
54.8
2026
▼ 1.0×
Share of world services exports
% of world commercial services exports
4.3%
2025
0.1%
2022
▲ 53.8×
Travel & Tourism Development Index
score (1-7)
4.42
2026
3.34
2026
▲ 1.3×

Governance

MeasureIndiaBangladesh
Corruption Perceptions Index39
2025
23
2024
▲ 1.7×
World Press Freedom Index32
2026
49.7
2021
▼ 1.6×
Voice and accountability
estimate (−2.5 to +2.5)
-0.152
2025
-0.721
2025
▲ 4.7×
Rule of law
estimate (−2.5 to +2.5)
-0.129
2025
-0.91
2025
▲ 7.1×
Control of corruption
estimate (−2.5 to +2.5)
-0.279
2025
-0.984
2025
▲ 3.5×
Government effectiveness
estimate (−2.5 to +2.5)
0.502
2025
-0.445
2025
▲
Regulatory quality
estimate (−2.5 to +2.5)
-0.17
2025
-0.938
2025
▲ 5.5×
Political stability and absence of violence
estimate (−2.5 to +2.5)
-0.608
2025
-0.941
2025
▲ 1.5×
Electoral democracy
0–1
0.377
2025
0.195
2025
▲ 1.9×
Liberal democracy
0–1
0.26
2025
0.116
2025
▲ 2.2×
Political corruption
0–1 (higher is worse)
0.684
2025
0.78
2025
▲ 1.1×
Public sector corruption
0–1 (higher is worse)
0.692
2025
0.751
2025
▲ 1.1×
Executive corruption
0–1 (higher is worse)
0.688
2025
0.618
2025
▼ 1.1×
Freedom of expression
0–1
0.458
2025
0.527
2025
▼ 1.2×
Judicial checks on government
0–1
0.667
2025
0.432
2025
▲ 1.5×
Military expenditure
% of GDP
2.3%
2025
0.8%
2025
▼ 2.8×
Arms imports
SIPRI trend-indicator value
2,86,30,00,000
2025
3,20,00,000
2025
▼ 89.5×
Political rights (Freedom House)
score out of 40
31
2025
15
2025
▲ 2.1×
Civil liberties (Freedom House)
score out of 60
31
2025
29
2025
▲ 1.1×
Prison population rate
per 100,000 people
37
2023
46
2025
▲ 1.2×
Global Diplomacy Index
diplomatic posts
194
2024
80
2024
▲ 2.4×
Global Peace Index
score (1-5, lower = more peaceful)
2.41
2026
2.23
2026
▼ 1.1×
Global Terrorism Index
score (0-10, higher = greater impact of terrorism)
6.43
2026
2.29
2026
▼ 2.8×
Open Budget Index
score 0-100
44
2025
37
2025
▲ 1.2×
Pre-trial detainees
% of total prison population
72.6%
2024
66.9%
2026
▼ 1.1×
Global Soft Power Index
score (0-100)
48
2026
33.7
2026
▲ 1.4×
UN peacekeeping contributions
uniformed personnel (troops, staff officers, military experts on mission, police)
4,278
2026-02
4,148
2026-02
▲ 1.0×
WJP Rule of Law Index
score 0-1
0.49
2025
0.39
2025
▲ 1.3×

Society

MeasureIndiaBangladesh
Women's political participation
0–1
0.708
2025
0.445
2025
▲ 1.6×
Women in the Lok Sabha
% of lower-chamber seats
13.8%
2025
20.9%
2023
▼ 1.5×
Homicide rate
per 100,000 people
2.82
2022
2.34
2018
▼ 1.2×
Under-five mortality
% of children dying before age 5
3.6%
2019
2.9%
2019
▼ 1.2×
Human Development Index0.685
2023
0.685
2023
▼
Global Hunger Index25.8
2025
19.1
2021
▲ 1.4×
World Happiness Report4.54
2026
4.32
2025
▲ 1.1×
Life expectancy at birth
years
72.2
2024
74.9
2024
▼ 1.0×
Child stunting
% of under-fives
35.5%
2020
23.6%
2022
▼ 1.5×
Maternal mortality
per 100,000 live births
80
2023
115
2023
▲ 1.4×
Tuberculosis incidence
per 100,000 people
187
2024
221
2024
▲ 1.2×
Out-of-pocket health spending
% of health spending
43.9%
2023
79.3%
2023
▲ 1.8×
Doctors per 1,000
per 1,000 people
0.723
2020
0.722
2023
▲ 1.0×
Hospital beds per 1,000
per 1,000 people
1.59
2021
0.92
2023
▲ 1.7×
Childhood immunisation
% of children 12–23 months
94.0%
2024
97.0%
2024
▼ 1.0×
Suicide rate
per 100,000 people
12.6
2021
2.81
2021
▼ 4.5×
Undernourishment
% of population
9.8%
2024
8.2%
2024
▼ 1.2×
Human Capital Index
0–1
0.494
2020
0.464
2020
▲ 1.1×
Higher-education enrolment
% gross
34.4%
2025
23.7%
2024
▲ 1.5×
Government spending on education
% of GDP
4.1%
2022
2.0%
2024
▲ 2.0×
Fertility rate
births per woman
1.96
2024
2.14
2024
▲ 1.1×
Sex ratio at birth
male births per female birth
1.07
2024
1.05
2024
▼ 1.0×
Child marriage
% of women 20-24 married by 18
22.3%
2021
47.2%
2025
▲ 2.1×
Gender Inequality Index
index (0 = equal)
0.403
2023
0.487
2023
▲ 1.2×
Women, Business and the Law
score out of 100
74.4
2023
49.4
2023
▲ 1.5×
Universal health coverage index
index out of 100
69
2023
54
2023
▲ 1.3×
Learning poverty
% of 10-year-olds
56.1%
2017
51.2%
2022
▼ 1.1×
Average years of schooling
years (adults)
7.8
2020
7.23
2020
▲ 1.1×
Expected years of schooling
years (a child starting now)
13
2023
12.3
2023
▲ 1.1×
English Proficiency Index
EF EPI score
484
2025
506
2025
▼ 1.0×
Global Gender Gap Index
index (0-1, 1 = parity)
0.645
2026
0.712
2026
▼ 1.1×
Multidimensional Poverty Index
MPI value (0-1)
0.069
2019-2021
0.067
2022
▼ 1.0×
Legatum Prosperity Index
score (0-100)
60.7
2026
49.8
2026
▲ 1.2×
Social Progress Index
score (0-100)
58.8
2025
53
2025
▲ 1.1×

Environment

MeasureIndiaBangladesh
Renewable share of electricity
% of generation
24.1%
2025
2.1%
2025
▲ 11.3×
Solar generation
TWh
196
2025
1.56
2025
▲ 125.6×
Forest cover
% of land area
24.4%
2024
14.4%
2024
▲ 1.7×
CO₂ emissions per person
tonnes per person
2.17
2024
0.716
2024
▼ 3.0×
CO₂ emissions, total
million tonnes
3,154
2024
124.2
2024
▼ 25.4×
Water stress
% of available freshwater withdrawn
66.5%
2022
5.7%
2022
▼ 11.6×
Tree cover loss
hectares per year
1,25,678
2024
15,911
2024
▼ 7.9×
Energy Transition Index
score (0-100)
54.9
2026
50.2
2026
▲ 1.1×
ND-GAIN Country Index
score (0-100, higher = less vulnerable and more ready to adapt)
44.4
2024
37
2024
▲ 1.2×

Innovation

MeasureIndiaBangladesh
Patent applications
applications by residents
63,217
2024
87
2024
▲ 726.6×
Scientific articles published
articles per year
2,28,174
2023
8,259
2023
▲ 27.6×
Global AI Index
score (0-100, top-scoring country = 100)
21
2025
7
2025
▲ 3.0×
Hurun Global Unicorn Index
unicorns (count)
61
2026
0
2026
▲
Universities in the world top 500
universities
3
2027
0
2027
▲

Infrastructure

MeasureIndiaBangladesh
Access to electricity
% of population
99.9%
2024
99.5%
2024
▲ 1.0×
Access to clean cooking fuel
% of population
81.0%
2024
29.0%
2024
▲ 2.8×
Safely managed drinking water
% of population
76.4%
2024
59.1%
2024
▲ 1.3×
Safely managed sanitation
% of population
62.8%
2024
37.3%
2024
▲ 1.7×
Electricity use per person
kWh per person per year
1,423
2025
672
2025
▲ 2.1×
Liner shipping connectivity
index (max in 2004 = 100)
58.9
2021
14.7
2021
▲ 4.0×
Rail network
route-km
68,103
2021
2,877
2019
▲ 23.7×

Digital

MeasureIndiaBangladesh
Adults with a bank account
% of adults 15+
89.0%
2024
43.3%
2024
▲ 2.1×
Mobile subscriptions
per 100 people
79.4
2024
108.1
2024
▼ 1.4×
Individuals using the internet
% of population
70.0%
2025
53.4%
2024
▲ 1.3×
Fixed broadband
per 100 people
3.15
2024
8.09
2024
▼ 2.6×
E-Government Development Index
EGDI (0-1)
0.668
2024
0.657
2024
▲ 1.0×
Global Cybersecurity Index
score out of 100 (0-1 scale in the 2014, 2017 and 2018 editions)
98.5
2024
97
2024
▲ 1.0×
Government AI Readiness Index
score (0-100)
66.6
2025
48.4
2025
▲ 1.4×
Mobile data price
US$ per 1GB
0.16
2023
0.23
2023
▲ 1.4×
Mobile internet speed
Mbps
128.2
2026-08
38.7
2026-08
▲ 3.3×
Network Readiness Index
score (0-100)
54.4
2025
44.9
2025
▲ 1.2×