Freedom of Expression Index in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Freedom of Expression Index was 0.839 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
0.839
Change on year
up 2.6%
World rank
47th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.853
in 2022
All-time low
0.392
in 1900
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Freedom of Expression Index in Papua New Guinea, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Papua New Guinea recorded 0.839 for freedom of expression index in 2025.
The figure is up 2.6% on the previous year and up 4.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, freedom of expression index in Papua New Guinea peaked at 0.853 in 2022 and was at its lowest, 0.392, in 1900.
That places Papua New Guinea 47th 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 126 years of available data.
Freedom of Expression Index in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 0.392 | — |
| 1901 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 0.392 | +0.0% |
| 1946 | 0.573 | +46.2% |
| 1947 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1961 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 0.573 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 0.617 | +7.7% |
| 1965 | 0.617 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 0.617 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 0.617 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 0.617 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 0.617 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 0.76 | +23.2% |
| 1971 | 0.76 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 0.76 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 0.76 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 0.76 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 0.827 | +8.8% |
| 1976 | 0.827 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 0.827 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 0.827 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 0.827 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 0.81 | -2.1% |
| 1981 | 0.81 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 0.81 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 0.81 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 0.81 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 0.81 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 0.81 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 0.81 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 0.81 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 0.811 | +0.1% |
| 1990 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 0.811 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 0.829 | +2.2% |
| 2007 | 0.829 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 0.829 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 0.829 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 0.812 | -2.1% |
| 2011 | 0.805 | -0.9% |
| 2012 | 0.802 | -0.4% |
| 2013 | 0.802 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.802 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.8 | -0.2% |
| 2016 | 0.816 | +2.0% |
| 2017 | 0.808 | -1.0% |
| 2018 | 0.818 | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 0.835 | +2.1% |
| 2020 | 0.825 | -1.2% |
| 2021 | 0.825 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.853 | +3.4% |
| 2023 | 0.838 | -1.8% |
| 2024 | 0.818 | -2.4% |
| 2025 | 0.839 | +2.6% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 0.839 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.579, 1.4× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 0.839 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.682, 1.2× the median. (22 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.392 | 0.392 | 0.392 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.392 | 0.392 | 0.392 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.392 | 0.392 | 0.392 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.392 | 0.392 | 0.392 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.4644 | 0.392 | 0.573 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.573 | 0.573 | 0.573 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.5994 | 0.573 | 0.617 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.7935 | 0.76 | 0.827 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.8101 | 0.81 | 0.811 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.811 | 0.811 | 0.811 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8182 | 0.811 | 0.829 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.81 | 0.8 | 0.835 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.833 | 0.818 | 0.853 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
More social development data for Papua New Guinea
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 7,727 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 644 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 644 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0007 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is freedom of expression index in Papua New Guinea?
- Freedom of expression index in Papua New Guinea was 0.839 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest freedom of expression index recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 0.853 in 2022.
- What is the lowest freedom of expression index recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.392 in 1900.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for freedom of expression index?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 47th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is freedom of expression index rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
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.