Key media freedoms in New Zealand
New Zealand: Key media freedoms was 2.95 in 2025. β² Rising
Latest (2025)
2.95
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
9th
of 175 countries
All-time high
2.95
in 2024
All-time low
1.11
in 1915
Years of data
126
1900β2025
Key media freedoms in New Zealand, 1900β2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, key media freedoms in New Zealand stood at 2.95. That is the highest value across all 126 years on record.
That represents a change of up 7.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, key media freedoms in New Zealand peaked at 2.95 in 2024 and was at its lowest, 1.11, in 1915.
That places New Zealand 9th out of 175 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 2.22 | 2.22 | 2.22 | 10 |
| 1910s | 1.51 | 1.11 | 2.22 | 10 |
| 1920s | 2.22 | 2.22 | 2.22 | 10 |
| 1930s | 1.69 | 1.3 | 2.22 | 10 |
| 1940s | 1.35 | 1.11 | 1.71 | 10 |
| 1950s | 2.05 | 1.34 | 2.48 | 10 |
| 1960s | 2.48 | 2.48 | 2.48 | 10 |
| 1970s | 2.75 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.75 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.75 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.75 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.75 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.55 | 2.22 | 2.95 | 6 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More social development data for New Zealand
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 2,148 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 58 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh 1 (2025)
- Democracy lexical 1 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 1 (2025)
- Human rights index vs electoral democracy index 0.948 (2025)
- Liberal democracy index 0.787 (2025)
- Electoral democracy index 0.849 (2025)
- Freedom of association index 0.885 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is key media freedoms in New Zealand?
- Key media freedoms in New Zealand was 2.95 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest key media freedoms recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 2.95 in 2024.
- What is the lowest key media freedoms recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.11 in 1915.
- How does New Zealand rank for key media freedoms?
- New Zealand ranks 9th out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is key media freedoms rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is up 7.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Key media freedoms. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV Β· JSON β 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).