Which has higher freedom of expression index, Qatar or United Arab Emirates?

United Arab Emirates, at 0.063 against 0.055 in Qatar as of 2025.

What is the difference in freedom of expression index between Qatar and United Arab Emirates?

0.008, with United Arab Emirates ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Qatar and United Arab Emirates?

55 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2025.

Where does this data come from?

V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Freedom of Expression Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Qatar vs United Arab Emirates: Freedom of Expression Index

Qatar

0.055

in 2025

United Arab Emirates

0.063

in 2025

Qatar rank

166th

United Arab Emirates rank

165th

Freedom of Expression Index over time

Qatar
United Arab Emirates

How they compare

United Arab Emirates currently reports 0.063 against 0.055 in Qatar, a difference of 0.008.

That makes United Arab Emirates's figure about 1.1 times Qatar's.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 55 shared years of data; in 1971 it was United Arab Emirates ahead.

Qatar ranks 166th and United Arab Emirates ranks 165th of 176 countries.

United Arab Emirates has averaged higher in every one of the 6 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Qatar	United Arab Emirates	Difference	Ahead
1970s	0.0818	0.0912	0.0094	United Arab Emirates
1980s	0.082	0.1098	0.0278	United Arab Emirates
1990s	0.0869	0.1517	0.0648	United Arab Emirates
2000s	0.103	0.1399	0.0369	United Arab Emirates
2010s	0.1046	0.1092	0.0046	United Arab Emirates
2020s	0.0608	0.0618	0.001	United Arab Emirates

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher freedom of expression index, Qatar or United Arab Emirates?: United Arab Emirates, at 0.063 against 0.055 in Qatar as of 2025.
What is the difference in freedom of expression index between Qatar and United Arab Emirates?: 0.008, with United Arab Emirates ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Qatar and United Arab Emirates?: 55 years are reported by both, from 1971 to 2025.
How do Qatar and United Arab Emirates rank globally for freedom of expression index?: Qatar ranks 166th and United Arab Emirates ranks 165th of 176 countries.
Where does this data come from?: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Freedom of Expression Index. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Qatar vs United Arab Emirates: Freedom of Expression Index. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 07 November 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/compare/freedom-of-expression-index/qatar/united-arab-emirates/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://social-development.statizoid.com/compare/freedom-of-expression-index/qatar/united-arab-emirates/">Qatar vs United Arab Emirates: Freedom of Expression Index</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Freedom of Expression Index
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 176 places, 30,035 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed: 30 October 2026

Central estimate of the extent to which people can discuss political matters at home and in the public sphere, the press, and media are free and can present different political perspectives, and the freedom of academic and cultural expression.