Bangladesh has lost US$ 5.9 billion in 2015 from illicit financial flows, says the report of Global Financial Integrity.
It says the money was flown out of the country through trade mis-invoicing.
The report titled, “Illicit Financial Flows to and from 148 Developing Countries: 2006-2015,” is the latest in a series of Global Financial Integrity (GFI) reports which provide country-level estimates of the illicit flows of money into and out of 148 developing and emerging market nations as a result of their trade in goods with advanced economies.
The GFI report ranked Bangladesh as one of the top 30 countries in illicit financial outflows in Asian states.
Malaysia ranked top among the Asian states with $33.7 billion illicit financial flows followed by India with $9.8 billion, Bangladesh $5.9 billion and the Philippines $5.1 billion.
An estimated US$2.8 billion black money also entered Bangladesh in 2015, according to the latest GFI report which relesed on Monday.
Illicit financial flows from Bangladesh were estimated at US$10.04 billion in 2013.
The figures are accumulated using the databases of the United Nations (UN) Comtrade and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
According to the Comtrade dataset from the United Nations, Bangladesh raked in $2.8 billion in illicit money inflows in 2015.
The country ranks in the top 30 of developing nations in both the illegal financial outflow and inflow categories of the report.
Combined, these outflows and inflows have accounted for over 20 percent of developing country trade, on average in the last 10 years, the report says.
The study identifies misinvoicing in merchandise trade as the primary means for illicitly moving funds between developing and advanced countries.
Trade misinvoicing accounts for between 19 and 24 percent of developing country trade, says the report.
The Washington-based think tank in its previous report said that Bangladesh lost between $6.0 billion and $9.0 billion to illicit money outflows in 2014.
