Key media freedoms in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Key media freedoms was 1.02 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
1.02
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
65th
of 175 countries
All-time high
1.69
in 1975
All-time low
0.883
in 2018
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Key media freedoms in Papua New Guinea, 1900–2025
Source: V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for key media freedoms in Papua New Guinea is 1.02, measured in 2025.
The figure is down 7.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, key media freedoms in Papua New Guinea peaked at 1.69 in 1975 and was at its lowest, 0.883, in 2018.
Papua New Guinea ranks 65th of 175 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Key media freedoms in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 1.04 | — |
| 1901 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1920 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1921 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1925 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1946 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1947 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1961 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 1.04 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 1.32 | +26.6% |
| 1971 | 1.32 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 1.32 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 1.32 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 1.32 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 1.69 | +28.0% |
| 1976 | 1.69 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 1.69 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 1.69 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 1.69 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 1.11 | -34.4% |
| 1981 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 1.09 | -2.1% |
| 2013 | 1.09 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 1.09 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 1.11 | +1.9% |
| 2016 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 1.11 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.883 | -20.4% |
| 2019 | 1.02 | +16.0% |
| 2020 | 1.02 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 1.02 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 1.02 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 1.02 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 1.02 | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 1.02 | +0.0% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 1.02 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.292, 3.5× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 1.02 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.3835, 2.7× the median. (22 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.04 | 10 |
| 1910s | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.04 | 10 |
| 1920s | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.04 | 10 |
| 1930s | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.04 | 10 |
| 1940s | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.04 | 10 |
| 1950s | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.04 | 10 |
| 1960s | 1.04 | 1.04 | 1.04 | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.51 | 1.32 | 1.69 | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.11 | 1.11 | 1.11 | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.11 | 1.11 | 1.11 | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.11 | 1.11 | 1.11 | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.07 | 0.883 | 1.11 | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.02 | 1.02 | 1.02 | 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 key media freedoms in Papua New Guinea?
- Key media freedoms in Papua New Guinea was 1.02 in 2025, according to V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest key media freedoms recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 1.69 in 1975.
- What is the lowest key media freedoms recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.883 in 2018.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for key media freedoms?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 65th out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is key media freedoms rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.7%. 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 Key media freedoms. 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 the government directly or indirectly attempts to censor political content in print and broadcast media, through formal restrictions or indirect pressures such as financial control, licensing, or access to distribution channels.