Freedom of Expression Score in South Korea
South Korea: Freedom of Expression Score was 6 in 2025. ▼ Falling
Freedom of Expression Score in South Korea, 2005–2025
Source: Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
South Korea recorded 6 for freedom of expression score in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 11 years on record.
That represents a change of down 14.3% on the previous year and down 14.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, freedom of expression score in South Korea peaked at 9 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 6, in 2025.
South Korea ranks 41st of 128 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 8.67 | 8 | 9 | 3 |
| 2010s | 7.2 | 7 | 8 | 5 |
| 2020s | 7 | 6 | 8 | 3 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More social development data for South Korea
- Political Rights Rating 2 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 4,407 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 117 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 1 (2025)
- Liberal democracy 3 (2025)
- Liberal Democracy Index 0.739 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 2 (2025)
- Human Rights Index 0.912 (2025)
- Participatory Democracy Index 0.551 (2025)
- Key features of human rights 0.912 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is freedom of expression score in South Korea?
- Freedom of expression score in South Korea was 6 in 2025, according to Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest freedom of expression score recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 9 in 2005.
- What is the lowest freedom of expression score recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 6 in 2025.
- How does South Korea rank for freedom of expression score?
- South Korea ranks 41st out of 128 countries with data for 2025.
- Is freedom of expression score rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 14.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Freedom of Expression Score. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Indicates the extent to which individuals, groups, and the press can express their views free from government interference.