Statizoid

Press freedom by country

Based on the classification and data by Freedom House. It captures the legal, political, and economic environment of the press.

Countries reporting
170
Highest
2
Andorra
Lowest
0
Zimbabwe
Median
1
Years covered
38
1979–2016
Data points
6,417

What the numbers show

Press freedom is currently reported for 170 countries. The highest value is 2 in Andorra; the lowest is 0 in Zimbabwe.

The median across all reporting countries is 1, and the mean is 1.12.

Over the past decade 1 countries rose and 23 fell. The largest increase was in Tonga (up 100.0%), and the largest decrease in Central African Republic (down 100.0%).

Press freedom: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Andorra 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Australia 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Austria 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Belgium 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Bahamas 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Belize 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Barbados 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Canada 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Switzerland 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Chile 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Cape Verde 2 2016 unchanged volatile
1 Costa Rica 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Cyprus 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Czechia 2 2016 unchanged volatile
1 Germany 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Dominica 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Denmark 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Spain 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Estonia 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Finland 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 France 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 United Kingdom 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Grenada 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Ireland 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Iceland 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Jamaica 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Japan 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Kiribati 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Saint Kitts and Nevis 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Saint Lucia 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Liechtenstein 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Lithuania 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Luxembourg 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Latvia 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Monaco 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Marshall Islands 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Malta 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Mauritius 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Netherlands 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Norway 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 New Zealand 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Palau 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Papua New Guinea 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Portugal 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Solomon Islands 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 San Marino 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Sao Tome and Principe 2 2016 unchanged volatile
1 Suriname 2 2016 unchanged volatile
1 Slovakia 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Slovenia 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Sweden 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Tonga 2 2016 up 100.0% rising
1 Trinidad and Tobago 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Tuvalu 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Uruguay 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 United States 2 2016 unchanged flat
1 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Vanuatu 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Samoa 2 2016 unchanged rising
1 Taiwan 2 2016 unchanged rising
61 Afghanistan 1 2016 — volatile
61 Albania 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Argentina 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Antigua and Barbuda 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Benin 1 2016 down 50.0% volatile
61 Burkina Faso 1 2016 unchanged rising
61 Bulgaria 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 2016 unchanged rising
61 Bolivia 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Brazil 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Bhutan 1 2016 — volatile
61 Botswana 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Cote d'Ivoire 1 2016 — volatile
61 Congo 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Colombia 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Comoros 1 2016 unchanged flat
61 Dominican Republic 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Fiji 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Georgia 1 2016 unchanged rising
61 Ghana 1 2016 down 50.0% volatile
61 Guinea-Bissau 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Greece 1 2016 down 50.0% falling
61 Guatemala 1 2016 unchanged rising
61 Guyana 1 2016 down 50.0% volatile
61 Hong Kong 1 2016 down 50.0% falling
61 Croatia 1 2016 unchanged rising
61 Haiti 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Hungary 1 2016 down 50.0% volatile
61 Indonesia 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 India 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Israel 1 2016 down 50.0% falling
61 Italy 1 2016 down 50.0% falling
61 Kenya 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 South Korea 1 2016 down 50.0% volatile
61 Kuwait 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Lebanon 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Liberia 1 2016 — volatile
61 Lesotho 1 2016 unchanged rising
61 Moldova 1 2016 — volatile
61 Madagascar 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Mali 1 2016 down 50.0% volatile
61 Montenegro 1 2016 unchanged flat
61 Mongolia 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Mozambique 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Mauritania 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Malawi 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Namibia 1 2016 down 50.0% falling
61 Niger 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Nigeria 1 2016 unchanged flat
61 Nicaragua 1 2016 unchanged rising
61 Nepal 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Nauru 1 2016 down 50.0% falling
61 Panama 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Peru 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Philippines 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Poland 1 2016 down 50.0% volatile
61 Paraguay 1 2016 unchanged rising
61 Romania 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Senegal 1 2016 unchanged flat
61 Sierra Leone 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 El Salvador 1 2016 unchanged flat
61 Serbia 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Seychelles 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Togo 1 2016 — volatile
61 East Timor 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 Tunisia 1 2016 — volatile
61 Tanzania 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Uganda 1 2016 unchanged volatile
61 Ukraine 1 2016 unchanged falling
61 South Africa 1 2016 down 50.0% volatile
131 Armenia 0 2016 — volatile
131 Bangladesh 0 2016 — volatile
131 Bahrain 0 2016 — volatile
131 Belarus 0 2016 — volatile
131 Central African Republic 0 2016 down 100.0% volatile
131 Democratic Republic of Congo 0 2016 — volatile
131 Djibouti 0 2016 — volatile
131 Algeria 0 2016 — volatile
131 Ecuador 0 2016 down 100.0% volatile
131 Egypt 0 2016 — volatile
131 Ethiopia 0 2016 — volatile
131 Gabon 0 2016 — volatile
131 Guinea 0 2016 — volatile
131 Gambia 0 2016 — volatile
131 Honduras 0 2016 down 100.0% volatile
131 Iran 0 2016 — volatile
131 Jordan 0 2016 — volatile
131 Kazakhstan 0 2016 — volatile
131 Kyrgyzstan 0 2016 — volatile
131 Cambodia 0 2016 down 100.0% volatile
131 Libya 0 2016 — volatile
131 Sri Lanka 0 2016 — volatile
131 Morocco 0 2016 — volatile
131 Maldives 0 2016 — volatile
131 Mexico 0 2016 down 100.0% falling
131 North Macedonia 0 2016 down 100.0% falling
131 Malaysia 0 2016 — volatile
131 Pakistan 0 2016 — volatile
131 Qatar 0 2016 — volatile
131 Russia 0 2016 — volatile
131 Sudan 0 2016 — volatile
131 Singapore 0 2016 — volatile
131 South Sudan 0 2016 down 100.0% volatile
131 Eswatini 0 2016 — volatile
131 Thailand 0 2016 down 100.0% volatile
131 Turkey 0 2016 down 100.0% volatile
131 Venezuela 0 2016 — volatile
131 Yemen 0 2016 — volatile
131 Zambia 0 2016 — volatile
131 Zimbabwe 0 2016 — volatile

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Press freedom by country. Statizoid, drawing on Freedom House (2017) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 08 November 2026, from https://social-development.statizoid.com/stat/press-freedom-fh/

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About this data

Indicator
Press freedom
Source
Freedom House (2017) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
194 places, 6,417 data points, 1979–2016
Last refreshed

Based on the classification and data by Freedom House. It captures the legal, political, and economic environment of the press.