Bangladesh ranks 99th in Energy Transition Index, trails regional peers
Within South Asia, Sri Lanka emerged as the region’s top performer at 68th place, followed by India at 70th. Pakistan ranked 90th, while Nepal stood at 111th.
Bangladesh has ranked 99th out of 120 countries in the Energy Transition Index 2026, lagging behind regional peers amid persistent weaknesses in transition readiness and continued dependence on imported fossil fuels despite improvements in electricity access and overall energy-system performance.
The Energy Transition Index 2026, published yesterday (18 June) by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with Accenture, assessed countries on their ability to balance energy security, sustainability and affordability while advancing towards cleaner energy systems.
Within South Asia, Sri Lanka emerged as the region's top performer at 68th place, followed by India at 70th. Pakistan ranked 90th, while Nepal stood at 111th.
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Sweden remained the world's best-performing country for the third consecutive year, followed by Finland and Denmark. Advanced economies, including China and the United States, occupied 14 of the top 20 positions.
Global energy transition faces growing strains
The report found that despite record global energy investment, progress towards a cleaner energy future is becoming increasingly fragmented due to geopolitical tensions, infrastructure bottlenecks, financing constraints and rapidly rising electricity demand.
Global energy investment exceeded $3.3 trillion in 2025, including $2.3 trillion directed towards clean-energy technologies. Renewable and nuclear sources generated 42% of global electricity, while renewable-energy capacity expanded by nearly 800 gigawatts during the year.
However, the World Economic Forum warned that countries are finding it increasingly difficult to balance energy security, affordability and sustainability simultaneously.
Only 24% of countries improved across all three dimensions of the energy trilemma – security, sustainability and affordability.
Record investment masks structural weaknesses
Despite unprecedented spending on energy, investment remains highly concentrated, the report said.
Around 75% of global clean-energy investment is concentrated in a small number of economies, while countries expected to account for roughly 80% of future electricity-demand growth continue to face financing costs two to three times higher than those in advanced economies.
The report noted that more than 2,500 gigawatts of renewable-energy, energy-storage and large electricity-demand projects, including data centres, are currently awaiting grid connections worldwide, highlighting widening gaps between project development and infrastructure readiness.
Transition readiness declines
One of the report's most significant findings was the deterioration in transition readiness, which measures countries' ability to sustain the energy transition through policy frameworks, financing, innovation and infrastructure.
Although overall Energy Transition Index scores increased marginally by 0.03%, gains in energy-system performance were offset by a 0.76% decline in transition readiness, marking the first such decline in more than a decade.
Finance and investment recorded the sharpest deterioration, falling by 1.8%, followed by regulation and political commitment at 1.2% and innovation at 1.1%.
