What is freedom of expression index in Spain?

Freedom of expression index in Spain was 0.843 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

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

The highest recorded value was 0.96 in 1986.

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

The lowest recorded value was 0.019 in 1941.

How does Spain rank for freedom of expression index?

Spain ranks 45th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.

Is freedom of expression index rising or falling in Spain?

Over the last ten years it is down 6.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.

Where does this Spain 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 Spain

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

Spain: Freedom of Expression Index was 0.843 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)

0.843

Change on year

down 0.8%

World rank

45th

of 176 countries

All-time high

0.96

in 1986

All-time low

0.019

in 1941

Years of data

237

1789–2025

Freedom of Expression Index in Spain, 1789–2025

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

Analysis

In 2025, freedom of expression index in Spain stood at 0.843.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.8% on the previous year and down 6.7% over ten years.

Over the whole period, freedom of expression index in Spain peaked at 0.96 in 1986 and was at its lowest, 0.019, in 1941.

That places Spain 45th out of 176 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Freedom of Expression Index in Spain, year by year

Annual values for Freedom of Expression Index in Spain, 1789 to 2025.
Year	Value	Change
1789	0.105	—
1790	0.105	+0.0%
1791	0.105	+0.0%
1792	0.105	+0.0%
1793	0.105	+0.0%
1794	0.105	+0.0%
1795	0.105	+0.0%
1796	0.105	+0.0%
1797	0.105	+0.0%
1798	0.105	+0.0%
1799	0.105	+0.0%
1800	0.105	+0.0%
1801	0.105	+0.0%
1802	0.105	+0.0%
1803	0.105	+0.0%
1804	0.105	+0.0%
1805	0.105	+0.0%
1806	0.105	+0.0%
1807	0.105	+0.0%
1808	0.402	+282.9%
1809	0.489	+21.6%
1810	0.489	+0.0%
1811	0.489	+0.0%
1812	0.489	+0.0%
1813	0.489	+0.0%
1814	0.432	-11.7%
1815	0.058	-86.6%
1816	0.058	+0.0%
1817	0.058	+0.0%
1818	0.058	+0.0%
1819	0.058	+0.0%
1820	0.426	+634.5%
1821	0.539	+26.5%
1822	0.539	+0.0%
1823	0.539	+0.0%
1824	0.098	-81.8%
1825	0.098	+0.0%
1826	0.098	+0.0%
1827	0.098	+0.0%
1828	0.098	+0.0%
1829	0.098	+0.0%
1830	0.098	+0.0%
1831	0.098	+0.0%
1832	0.098	+0.0%
1833	0.101	+3.1%
1834	0.225	+122.8%
1835	0.225	+0.0%
1836	0.389	+72.9%
1837	0.464	+19.3%
1838	0.471	+1.5%
1839	0.471	+0.0%
1840	0.471	+0.0%
1841	0.471	+0.0%
1842	0.471	+0.0%
1843	0.471	+0.0%
1844	0.471	+0.0%
1845	0.471	+0.0%
1846	0.471	+0.0%
1847	0.471	+0.0%
1848	0.428	-9.1%
1849	0.428	+0.0%
1850	0.428	+0.0%
1851	0.428	+0.0%
1852	0.428	+0.0%
1853	0.428	+0.0%
1854	0.428	+0.0%
1855	0.5	+16.8%
1856	0.5	+0.0%
1857	0.435	-13.0%
1858	0.456	+4.8%
1859	0.477	+4.6%
1860	0.477	+0.0%
1861	0.477	+0.0%
1862	0.477	+0.0%
1863	0.477	+0.0%
1864	0.477	+0.0%
1865	0.477	+0.0%
1866	0.477	+0.0%
1867	0.431	-9.6%
1868	0.494	+14.6%
1869	0.632	+27.9%
1870	0.632	+0.0%
1871	0.632	+0.0%
1872	0.632	+0.0%
1873	0.632	+0.0%
1874	0.587	-7.1%
1875	0.471	-19.8%
1876	0.471	+0.0%
1877	0.471	+0.0%
1878	0.471	+0.0%
1879	0.471	+0.0%
1880	0.471	+0.0%
1881	0.518	+10.0%
1882	0.546	+5.4%
1883	0.546	+0.0%
1884	0.546	+0.0%
1885	0.546	+0.0%
1886	0.546	+0.0%
1887	0.546	+0.0%
1888	0.546	+0.0%
1889	0.546	+0.0%
1890	0.546	+0.0%
1891	0.546	+0.0%
1892	0.546	+0.0%
1893	0.546	+0.0%
1894	0.546	+0.0%
1895	0.546	+0.0%
1896	0.546	+0.0%
1897	0.546	+0.0%
1898	0.546	+0.0%
1899	0.546	+0.0%
1900	0.547	+0.2%
1901	0.547	+0.0%
1902	0.547	+0.0%
1903	0.547	+0.0%
1904	0.547	+0.0%
1905	0.547	+0.0%
1906	0.547	+0.0%
1907	0.547	+0.0%
1908	0.547	+0.0%
1909	0.547	+0.0%
1910	0.547	+0.0%
1911	0.547	+0.0%
1912	0.547	+0.0%
1913	0.547	+0.0%
1914	0.547	+0.0%
1915	0.547	+0.0%
1916	0.547	+0.0%
1917	0.547	+0.0%
1918	0.547	+0.0%
1919	0.547	+0.0%
1920	0.546	-0.2%
1921	0.546	+0.0%
1922	0.541	-0.9%
1923	0.267	-50.6%
1924	0.142	-46.8%
1925	0.142	+0.0%
1926	0.142	+0.0%
1927	0.142	+0.0%
1928	0.142	+0.0%
1929	0.142	+0.0%
1930	0.156	+9.9%
1931	0.697	+346.8%
1932	0.846	+21.4%
1933	0.846	+0.0%
1934	0.846	+0.0%
1935	0.846	+0.0%
1936	0.762	-9.9%
1937	0.476	-37.5%
1938	0.414	-13.0%
1939	0.268	-35.3%
1940	0.023	-91.4%
1941	0.019	-17.4%
1942	0.019	+0.0%
1943	0.019	+0.0%
1944	0.019	+0.0%
1945	0.019	+0.0%
1946	0.019	+0.0%
1947	0.019	+0.0%
1948	0.019	+0.0%
1949	0.019	+0.0%
1950	0.021	+10.5%
1951	0.021	+0.0%
1952	0.021	+0.0%
1953	0.021	+0.0%
1954	0.021	+0.0%
1955	0.021	+0.0%
1956	0.021	+0.0%
1957	0.021	+0.0%
1958	0.021	+0.0%
1959	0.021	+0.0%
1960	0.022	+4.8%
1961	0.022	+0.0%
1962	0.022	+0.0%
1963	0.022	+0.0%
1964	0.022	+0.0%
1965	0.022	+0.0%
1966	0.058	+163.6%
1967	0.083	+43.1%
1968	0.088	+6.0%
1969	0.088	+0.0%
1970	0.088	+0.0%
1971	0.088	+0.0%
1972	0.088	+0.0%
1973	0.088	+0.0%
1974	0.088	+0.0%
1975	0.115	+30.7%
1976	0.319	+177.4%
1977	0.611	+91.5%
1978	0.905	+48.1%
1979	0.939	+3.8%
1980	0.939	+0.0%
1981	0.939	+0.0%
1982	0.955	+1.7%
1983	0.955	+0.0%
1984	0.955	+0.0%
1985	0.955	+0.0%
1986	0.96	+0.5%
1987	0.96	+0.0%
1988	0.96	+0.0%
1989	0.96	+0.0%
1990	0.96	+0.0%
1991	0.96	+0.0%
1992	0.96	+0.0%
1993	0.96	+0.0%
1994	0.96	+0.0%
1995	0.96	+0.0%
1996	0.96	+0.0%
1997	0.96	+0.0%
1998	0.96	+0.0%
1999	0.96	+0.0%
2000	0.96	+0.0%
2001	0.96	+0.0%
2002	0.96	+0.0%
2003	0.96	+0.0%
2004	0.96	+0.0%
2005	0.96	+0.0%
2006	0.96	+0.0%
2007	0.96	+0.0%
2008	0.96	+0.0%
2009	0.96	+0.0%
2010	0.96	+0.0%
2011	0.96	+0.0%
2012	0.948	-1.3%
2013	0.934	-1.5%
2014	0.931	-0.3%
2015	0.904	-2.9%
2016	0.904	+0.0%
2017	0.894	-1.1%
2018	0.909	+1.7%
2019	0.923	+1.5%
2020	0.919	-0.4%
2021	0.89	-3.2%
2022	0.901	+1.2%
2023	0.885	-1.8%
2024	0.85	-4.0%
2025	0.843	-0.8%

Spain compared with similar countries

Spain's 0.843 is below the median for high income countries, which is 0.874, 96% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
Spain's 0.843 is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 0.7935, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	Years
1780s	0.105	0.105	0.105	1
1790s	0.105	0.105	0.105	10
1800s	0.1731	0.105	0.489	10
1810s	0.2678	0.058	0.489	10
1820s	0.2631	0.098	0.539	10
1830s	0.264	0.098	0.471	10
1840s	0.4624	0.428	0.471	10
1850s	0.4508	0.428	0.5	10
1860s	0.4896	0.431	0.632	10
1870s	0.547	0.471	0.632	10
1880s	0.5357	0.471	0.546	10
1890s	0.546	0.546	0.546	10
1900s	0.547	0.547	0.547	10
1910s	0.547	0.547	0.547	10
1920s	0.2752	0.142	0.546	10
1930s	0.6157	0.156	0.846	10
1940s	0.0194	0.019	0.023	10
1950s	0.021	0.021	0.021	10
1960s	0.0449	0.022	0.088	10
1970s	0.3329	0.088	0.939	10
1980s	0.9538	0.939	0.96	10
1990s	0.96	0.96	0.96	10
2000s	0.96	0.96	0.96	10
2010s	0.9267	0.894	0.96	10
2020s	0.8813	0.843	0.919	6

Countries ranked near Spain

42 Vanuatu 0.848 compare
43 Japan 0.847 compare
44 Iceland 0.846 compare
46 Solomon Islands 0.84 compare
47 Guatemala 0.839 compare
47 Papua New Guinea 0.839 compare

See the full ranking of 176 places →

More social development data for Spain

Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 511,079 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 186 (2025)
Political Rights Rating 1 (2025)
Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per person (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 186 (2025)
Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0104 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 Spain →

Frequently asked questions

What is freedom of expression index in Spain?: Freedom of expression index in Spain was 0.843 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest freedom of expression index recorded in Spain?: The highest recorded value was 0.96 in 1986.
What is the lowest freedom of expression index recorded in Spain?: The lowest recorded value was 0.019 in 1941.
How does Spain rank for freedom of expression index?: Spain ranks 45th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
Is freedom of expression index rising or falling in Spain?: Over the last ten years it is down 6.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Spain 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 — 237 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Freedom of Expression Index in Spain. 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/spain/

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/stat/freedom-of-expression-index/spain/">Freedom of Expression Index in Spain</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: 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.