What is freedom of expression index in Ecuador?

Freedom of expression index in Ecuador was 0.706 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

What is the highest freedom of expression index recorded in Ecuador?

The highest recorded value was 0.851 in 2020.

What is the lowest freedom of expression index recorded in Ecuador?

The lowest recorded value was 0.109 in 1869.

How does Ecuador rank for freedom of expression index?

Ecuador ranks 86th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is freedom of expression index rising or falling in Ecuador?

Over the last ten years it is up 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.

Where does this Ecuador data come from?

The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Expression Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Freedom of Expression Index in Ecuador

Name: Freedom of Expression Index in Ecuador
Creator: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Ecuador: Freedom of Expression Index was 0.706 in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)

0.706

Change on year

down 4.9%

World rank

86th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.851

in 2020

All-time low

0.109

in 1869

Years of data

196

1830–2025

Freedom of Expression Index in Ecuador, 1830–2025

Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, freedom of expression index in Ecuador stood at 0.706.

The figure is down 4.9% on the previous year and up 1.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, freedom of expression index in Ecuador peaked at 0.851 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 0.109, in 1869.

That places Ecuador 86th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 196 years of available data.

Freedom of Expression Index in Ecuador, year by year

Annual values for Freedom of Expression Index in Ecuador, 1830 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1830	0.301	—
1831	0.301	+0.0%
1832	0.301	+0.0%
1833	0.287	-4.7%
1834	0.287	+0.0%
1835	0.297	+3.5%
1836	0.297	+0.0%
1837	0.297	+0.0%
1838	0.297	+0.0%
1839	0.297	+0.0%
1840	0.297	+0.0%
1841	0.297	+0.0%
1842	0.297	+0.0%
1843	0.297	+0.0%
1844	0.297	+0.0%
1845	0.38	+27.9%
1846	0.424	+11.6%
1847	0.424	+0.0%
1848	0.424	+0.0%
1849	0.424	+0.0%
1850	0.372	-12.3%
1851	0.372	+0.0%
1852	0.372	+0.0%
1853	0.372	+0.0%
1854	0.372	+0.0%
1855	0.372	+0.0%
1856	0.372	+0.0%
1857	0.372	+0.0%
1858	0.372	+0.0%
1859	0.356	-4.3%
1860	0.356	+0.0%
1861	0.137	-61.5%
1862	0.137	+0.0%
1863	0.137	+0.0%
1864	0.137	+0.0%
1865	0.137	+0.0%
1866	0.251	+83.2%
1867	0.251	+0.0%
1868	0.251	+0.0%
1869	0.109	-56.6%
1870	0.109	+0.0%
1871	0.109	+0.0%
1872	0.109	+0.0%
1873	0.109	+0.0%
1874	0.109	+0.0%
1875	0.109	+0.0%
1876	0.248	+127.5%
1877	0.248	+0.0%
1878	0.248	+0.0%
1879	0.248	+0.0%
1880	0.248	+0.0%
1881	0.248	+0.0%
1882	0.248	+0.0%
1883	0.263	+6.0%
1884	0.263	+0.0%
1885	0.277	+5.3%
1886	0.265	-4.3%
1887	0.28	+5.7%
1888	0.315	+12.5%
1889	0.381	+21.0%
1890	0.468	+22.8%
1891	0.468	+0.0%
1892	0.468	+0.0%
1893	0.468	+0.0%
1894	0.468	+0.0%
1895	0.673	+43.8%
1896	0.673	+0.0%
1897	0.673	+0.0%
1898	0.673	+0.0%
1899	0.673	+0.0%
1900	0.69	+2.5%
1901	0.69	+0.0%
1902	0.69	+0.0%
1903	0.69	+0.0%
1904	0.69	+0.0%
1905	0.664	-3.8%
1906	0.664	+0.0%
1907	0.664	+0.0%
1908	0.664	+0.0%
1909	0.664	+0.0%
1910	0.656	-1.2%
1911	0.656	+0.0%
1912	0.668	+1.8%
1913	0.668	+0.0%
1914	0.668	+0.0%
1915	0.666	-0.3%
1916	0.63	-5.4%
1917	0.63	+0.0%
1918	0.63	+0.0%
1919	0.63	+0.0%
1920	0.63	+0.0%
1921	0.63	+0.0%
1922	0.615	-2.4%
1923	0.632	+2.8%
1924	0.632	+0.0%
1925	0.632	+0.0%
1926	0.64	+1.3%
1927	0.64	+0.0%
1928	0.64	+0.0%
1929	0.647	+1.1%
1930	0.634	-2.0%
1931	0.634	+0.0%
1932	0.634	+0.0%
1933	0.634	+0.0%
1934	0.634	+0.0%
1935	0.599	-5.5%
1936	0.538	-10.2%
1937	0.538	+0.0%
1938	0.571	+6.1%
1939	0.571	+0.0%
1940	0.581	+1.8%
1941	0.565	-2.8%
1942	0.565	+0.0%
1943	0.565	+0.0%
1944	0.591	+4.6%
1945	0.587	-0.7%
1946	0.529	-9.9%
1947	0.529	+0.0%
1948	0.651	+23.1%
1949	0.662	+1.7%
1950	0.662	+0.0%
1951	0.662	+0.0%
1952	0.627	-5.3%
1953	0.604	-3.7%
1954	0.604	+0.0%
1955	0.604	+0.0%
1956	0.604	+0.0%
1957	0.638	+5.6%
1958	0.638	+0.0%
1959	0.638	+0.0%
1960	0.576	-9.7%
1961	0.576	+0.0%
1962	0.586	+1.7%
1963	0.491	-16.2%
1964	0.516	+5.1%
1965	0.516	+0.0%
1966	0.519	+0.6%
1967	0.573	+10.4%
1968	0.583	+1.7%
1969	0.547	-6.2%
1970	0.547	+0.0%
1971	0.582	+6.4%
1972	0.584	+0.3%
1973	0.506	-13.4%
1974	0.506	+0.0%
1975	0.506	+0.0%
1976	0.506	+0.0%
1977	0.509	+0.6%
1978	0.586	+15.1%
1979	0.706	+20.5%
1980	0.84	+19.0%
1981	0.84	+0.0%
1982	0.84	+0.0%
1983	0.835	-0.6%
1984	0.799	-4.3%
1985	0.758	-5.1%
1986	0.758	+0.0%
1987	0.758	+0.0%
1988	0.798	+5.3%
1989	0.819	+2.6%
1990	0.819	+0.0%
1991	0.819	+0.0%
1992	0.819	+0.0%
1993	0.814	-0.6%
1994	0.787	-3.3%
1995	0.787	+0.0%
1996	0.787	+0.0%
1997	0.787	+0.0%
1998	0.795	+1.0%
1999	0.795	+0.0%
2000	0.783	-1.5%
2001	0.783	+0.0%
2002	0.783	+0.0%
2003	0.783	+0.0%
2004	0.783	+0.0%
2005	0.783	+0.0%
2006	0.789	+0.8%
2007	0.808	+2.4%
2008	0.774	-4.2%
2009	0.783	+1.2%
2010	0.745	-4.9%
2011	0.737	-1.1%
2012	0.747	+1.4%
2013	0.684	-8.4%
2014	0.688	+0.6%
2015	0.693	+0.7%
2016	0.706	+1.9%
2017	0.723	+2.4%
2018	0.835	+15.5%
2019	0.8	-4.2%
2020	0.851	+6.4%
2021	0.794	-6.7%
2022	0.821	+3.4%
2023	0.753	-8.3%
2024	0.742	-1.5%
2025	0.706	-4.9%

Ecuador compared with similar countries

Ecuador's 0.706 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.6745, 1.0× the median. (48 countries reporting)
Ecuador's 0.706 is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.81, 87% of the median. (25 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1830s	0.2962	0.287	0.301	10
1840s	0.3561	0.297	0.424	10
1850s	0.3704	0.356	0.372	10
1860s	0.1903	0.109	0.356	10
1870s	0.1646	0.109	0.248	10
1880s	0.2788	0.248	0.381	10
1890s	0.5705	0.468	0.673	10
1900s	0.677	0.664	0.69	10
1910s	0.6502	0.63	0.668	10
1920s	0.6338	0.615	0.647	10
1930s	0.5987	0.538	0.634	10
1940s	0.5825	0.529	0.662	10
1950s	0.6281	0.604	0.662	10
1960s	0.5483	0.491	0.586	10
1970s	0.5538	0.506	0.706	10
1980s	0.8045	0.758	0.84	10
1990s	0.8009	0.787	0.819	10
2000s	0.7852	0.774	0.808	10
2010s	0.7358	0.684	0.835	10
2020s	0.7778	0.706	0.851	6

Countries ranked near Ecuador

83 United States 0.729 compare
84 Lesotho 0.728 compare
85 Fiji 0.724 compare
87 Maldives 0.695 compare
88 Slovenia 0.691 compare
89 Indonesia 0.688 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Ecuador

Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 26,428 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 5,723 (2025)
Political Rights Rating 3 (2025)
Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 3 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0003 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 5,723 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0014 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)

All data for Ecuador →

Frequently asked questions

What is freedom of expression index in Ecuador?: Freedom of expression index in Ecuador was 0.706 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest freedom of expression index recorded in Ecuador?: The highest recorded value was 0.851 in 2020.
What is the lowest freedom of expression index recorded in Ecuador?: The lowest recorded value was 0.109 in 1869.
How does Ecuador rank for freedom of expression index?: Ecuador ranks 86th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is freedom of expression index rising or falling in Ecuador?: Over the last ten years it is up 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Ecuador data come from?: The figures come from V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Expression Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Freedom of Expression Index in Ecuador. Statizoid, drawing on V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/freedom-of-expression-index/ecuador/

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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: 18 September 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.