Among 190 countries worldwide, Bangladesh has ranked 176

Bangladesh has been placed even below civil war-ravaged Iraq and Syria, in the World Bank's doing business ranking 2017.

The country is only above Afghanistan among eight countries in South Asia, according to the report titled “Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All" released on Tuesday.

Among 190 countries worldwide, Bangladesh has ranked 176, showing upward movement of only two positions from the previous year's ranking.

Still, the report indicated declining trend in terms of paying taxes that makes doing business more difficult -- from 148 in 2016 to 151 in 2017 ranking.

The country also ranked poorly in at least three more areas -- 189 in enforcing contracts, 187 in getting electricity and 185 in registering property.

New Zealand, Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong and South Korea are the top five economies in the WB's latest report. Somalia, Eritrea, Libya, Venezuela and South Sudan are the five countries in the bottom of the list.

In SAARC region, Bhutan topped the ranking (73), followed by Nepal (107), Sri Lanka (110), India (130), Maldives (135), and Pakistan (144).