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World Press Freedom Index

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This chart shows Press Freedom Index, which ranks 178 countries around the world according to press freedom violations.

What is Press Freedom Index?

The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders based upon the organization's assessment of their press freedom records. It reflects the degree of freedom journalists and news organisations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the state to respect and ensure respect for this freedom.

How is the Press Freedom Index calculated?

Reporters Without Borders compiled a questionnaire with 43 criteria for assessing the state of press freedom in each country. It includes every kind of violation directly affecting journalists (such as murders, imprisonment, physical attacks and threats) and news media (censorship, confiscation of issues, searches and harassment).

It registers the degree of impunity enjoyed by those responsible for such violations. It also takes account of the legal situation affecting the news media (such as penalties for press offences, the existence of a state monopoly in certain areas and the existence of a regulatory body) and the behaviour of the authorities towards the state-owned news media and the foreign press. It also takes account of the main obstacles to the free flow of information on the Internet.

The questionnaire was sent to partner organisations of Reporters Without Borders (14 freedom of expression groups in five continents) and its 130 correspondents around the world, as well as to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. A scale devised by the organisation was then used to give a country-score to each questionnaire. The Statistics Institute of the University of Paris provided assistance and advice in processing the data reliably and thoroughly.

Reporters Without Borders is careful to note that the index only deals with press freedom, and does not measure the quality of journalism. Due to the nature of the survey's methodology based on individual perceptions, there are often wide contrasts in a country's ranking from year to year.

Last updated: 14 years ago

Category: Social

Country	Status	Rank - 2010	Rank - 2009	Rank - 2008	Rank - 2007	Rank - 2006	Rank - 2005	Rank - 2004	Rank - 2003	Rank - 2002
Iceland	Good situation	1	9	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Finland	Good situation	1	1	4	5	1	1	1	1	1
Netherlands	Good situation	1	7	16	12	1	1	1	1	1
Norway	Good situation	1	1	1	1	6	1	1	1	1
Switzerland	Good situation	1	7	7	11	8	1	1	12	15
Sweden	Good situation	1	1	7	5	14	12	11	9	7
Austria	Good situation	7	13	14	16	16	16	17	16	26
New Zealand	Good situation	8	13	7	15	19	12	9	17
Ireland	Good situation	9	1	4	8	1	1	1	17	6
Estonia	Good situation	9	6	4	3	6	11	11	12
Denmark	Good situation	11	1	14	8	19	1	1	5	10
Lithuania	Good situation	11	10	16	23	27	21	16	17
Japan	Good situation	11	17	29	37	51	37	42	44	26
Belgium	Good situation	14	11	7	5	14	18	22	7	12
Malta	Good situation	14	11
Luxembourg	Good situation	14	20	1
Germany	Good situation	17	18	20	20	23	18	11	8	7
Australia	Satisfactory situation	18	16	28	28	35	31	41	50	12
United Kingdom	Satisfactory situation	19	20	23	24	27	24	28	27	21
United States of America	Satisfactory situation	20	20	36	48	53	44	22	31	17
Canada	Satisfactory situation	21	19	13	18	16	21	18	10	5
Namibia	Satisfactory situation	21	35	23	25	26	25	42	56	31
Czech Republic	Satisfactory situation	23	24	16	14	5	9	19	12	41
Hungary	Satisfactory situation	23	25	23	17	10	12	28	21	24
Jamaica	Satisfactory situation	25	23	21	27	23	34	24	21
Ghana	Satisfactory situation	26	27	31	29	34	66	57	48	67
Mali	Satisfactory situation	26	30	31	52	35	37	56	56	43
Cape Verde	Satisfactory situation	26	44	36	45	45	29	38	47	46
Costa Rica	Satisfactory situation	29	30	22	21	29	41	35	24	15
Latvia	Satisfactory situation	30	13	7	12	10	16	10	11
Trinidad and Tobago	Satisfactory situation	30	28	27	19	19	12	11	5
Poland	Satisfactory situation	32	37	47	56	58	53	32	33	29
Chile	Satisfactory situation	33	39	56	39	49	50	42	37	24
Hong-Kong	Satisfactory situation	34	48	51	61	58	39	34	56	18
Slovakia	Satisfactory situation	35	44	7	3	8	8	1	12
Surinam	Satisfactory situation	35		26
Uruguay	Satisfactory situation	37	29	43	37	57	46	42	25	21
South Africa	Satisfactory situation	38	33	36	43	44	31	26	21	26
Spain	Satisfactory situation	39	44	36	33	41	40	39	42	29
Portugal	Satisfactory situation	40	30	16	8	10	23	25	28	7
Tanzania	Satisfactory situation	41	62	70	55	88	74	61	69	62
South Korea	Satisfactory situation	42	69	47	39	31	34	48	49	39
Papua New Guinea	Satisfactory situation	42	56
France	Satisfactory situation	44	43	35	31	35	30	19	26	11
Cyprus	Satisfactory situation	45	25	31	45	30	25		83
Slovenia	Satisfactory situation	46	37	30	21	10	9	15	20	14
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Satisfactory situation	47	39	36	34	19	33	21	37	43
Taiwan	Satisfactory situation	48	59	36	32	43	51	60	61	35
Italy	Noticeable problems	49	49	44	35	40	42	39	53	40
Burkina Faso	Noticeable problems	49	57	63	68	70	78	64	76	85
El Salvador	Noticeable problems	51	79	62	64	41	28	28	37	33
Romania	Noticeable problems	52	50	47	42	58	70	70	59	45
Maldives	Noticeable problems	52	51	104	129	144	148	157	145
Paraguay	Noticeable problems	54	54	90	90	82	69	46	40	32
Argentina	Noticeable problems	55	47	68	82	76	59	79	67	42
Haiti	Noticeable problems	56	57	73	75	87	117	125	100	106
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States	Noticeable problems	57
Brazil	Noticeable problems	58	71	82	84	75	63	66	71	54
Guyana	Noticeable problems	59	39	88
Togo	Noticeable problems	60	62	53	49	66	95	75	95	97
Cyprus (North)	Noticeable problems	61	51	53	58	62	53	81
Croatia	Noticeable problems	62	78	45	41	53	56	54	69	33
Botswana	Noticeable problems	62	62	66	75	53	60	50	62
Bhutan	Noticeable problems	64	70	74	116	98	142	146	157	135
Mauritius	Noticeable problems	65	51	47	25	32	34	46	41	36
Seychelles	Noticeable problems	65	72	74	104	95	71	83	93	60
Guinea-Bissau	Noticeable problems	67	92	81	107	62	71	83	118	94
Macedonia	Noticeable problems	68	34	42	36	45	43	49	51
Central African Republic	Noticeable problems	69	80	85	71	62	82	104	107	63
Benin	Noticeable problems	70	72	70	53	23	25	27	29	21
Greece	Noticeable problems	70	35	31	30	32	18	33	31	19
Bulgaria	Noticeable problems	70	68	59	51	35	48	36	34	38
Comoros	Noticeable problems	70	82	89	96	93	88	88	79	58
Kenya	Noticeable problems	70	96	97	78	118	109	82	79	75
Moldova	Noticeable problems	75	114	98	81	85	74	78	94
Mongolia	Noticeable problems	76	91	93	74	86	53	73	77	72
Guatemala	Noticeable problems	77	106	101	104	90	86	66	99	83
Lebanon	Noticeable problems	78	61	66	98	107	108	87	106	56
Malawi	Noticeable problems	79	62	70	92	101	89	101	84	84
Albania	Noticeable problems	80	88	79	87	80	62	50	34
Panama	Noticeable problems	81	55	57	54	39	66	61	53	49
Zambia	Noticeable problems	82	97	74	68	93	90	100	86	81
Nicaragua	Noticeable problems	83	76	59	47	69	68	52	34
Liberia	Noticeable problems	84	62	51	85	84	83	123	132	109
Serbia	Noticeable problems	85	62	64	67
Tonga	Noticeable problems	87		82	119	53	63	119
Kuwait	Noticeable problems	87	60	61	63	73	85	103	102	78
United Arab Emirates	Noticeable problems	87	86	69	65	77	100	137	122
Lesotho	Noticeable problems	90	99	116	99	70	81	98	75
Sierra Leone	Noticeable problems	91	115	114	121	103	126	88	87	72
Kosovo	Noticeable problems	92	75	58	60	70	100
Senegal	Noticeable problems	93	89	86	83	77	78	80	66	47
Timor-Leste	Noticeable problems	93	72	65	94	83	58	57	30
Mauritania	Noticeable problems	95	100	105	50	77	127	138	121	115
Uganda	Noticeable problems	96	86	107	96	116	80	86	91	52
Dominican Republic	Noticeable problems	97	98	82	72	52	51	31	72
Mozambique	Noticeable problems	98	82	90	73	45	49	64	63	70
Georgia	Noticeable problems	99	81	120	66	89	99	94	73
United States of America (extra-territorial)	Noticeable problems	99		119	111	119	137	108	135
Ecuador	Noticeable problems	101	84	74	56	68	87	66	42	20
Armenia	Noticeable problems	101	111	102	77	101	102	83	90
Bolivia	Noticeable problems	103	95	115	68	16	45	76	51	48
Angola	Noticeable problems	104	119	116	91	91	76	91	97	93
Niger	Noticeable problems	104	139	130	87	95	57	71	68	53
Montenegro	Noticeable problems	104	77	53	58
Gabon	Noticeable problems	107	129	110	102	114	102	115	101	58
Burundi	Noticeable problems	108	103	94	127	125	90	73	92	72
Peru	Noticeable problems	109	85	108	117	112	116	123	55	36
Djibouti	Noticeable problems	110	110	134	132	121	121	145	120	96
Samoa	Noticeable problems	111
Chad	Noticeable problems	112	132	133	113	124	109	106	88	87
Guinea	Noticeable problems	113	100	99	107	109	102	88	109	79
Congo	Noticeable problems	114	116	92	80	73	71	69	63	69
Tajikistan	Noticeable problems	115	113	106	115	117	113	95	113	86
Madagascar	Noticeable problems	116	134	94	61	66	97	72	46	65
Indonesia	Noticeable problems	117	100	111	100	103	102	117	110	57
Côte d'Ivoire	Noticeable problems	118	103	109	94	98	144	149	137	55
Nepal	Noticeable problems	119	118	138	137	159	160	160	150	127
Jordan	Noticeable problems	120	112	128	122	109	96	121	122	99
Qatar	Noticeable problems	121	94	74	79	80	90	104	115
India	Noticeable problems	122	105	118	120	105	106	120	128	80
Zimbabwe	Noticeable problems	123	136	151	149	140	153	155	141	122
Oman	Noticeable problems	124	106	123					152
Gambia	Noticeable problems	125	137	137	130	149	130	98	77	64
Bangladesh	Noticeable problems	126	121	136	134	137	151	151	143	118
Egypt	Difficult situation	127	143	146	146	133	143	128	110	101
Cambodia	Difficult situation	128	117	126	85	108	90	109	81	71
Cameroon	Difficult situation	129	109	129	111	112	83	93	98	88
Iraq	Difficult situation	130	145	158	157	154	157	148	124	130
Ukraine	Difficult situation	131	89	87	92	105	112	138	132	112
Israel	Difficult situation	132	150			50	47			92
Venezuela	Difficult situation	133	124	113	114	115	90	90	96	77
Algeria	Difficult situation	133	141	121	123	126	129	128	108	95
Morocco	Difficult situation	135	127	122	106	97	119	126	131	89
Mexico	Difficult situation	136	137	140	136	132	135	96	74	75
Singapore	Difficult situation	136	133	144	141	146	140	147	144
Turkey	Difficult situation	138	122	102	101	98	98	113	115	99
Ethiopia	Difficult situation	139	140	142	150	160	131	112	124	107
Russia	Difficult situation	140	153	141	144	147	138	140	148	121
Malaysia	Difficult situation	141	131	132	124	92	113	122	104	110
Brunei	Difficult situation	142	155							111
Honduras	Difficult situation	143	128	99	87	62	76	53	65
Bahrein	Difficult situation	144	119	96	118	111	123	143	117	67
Nigeria	Difficult situation	145	135	131	131	120	123	117	103	49
Colombia	Difficult situation	145	126	126	126	131	128	134	147	114
Afghanistan	Difficult situation	147	149	156	142	130	125	97	134	104
Democratic Republic of Congo	Difficult situation	148	146	148	133	142	146	141	127	113
Fiji	Difficult situation	149	152	79	107	58	60	63	59
Palestinian Territories	Difficult situation	150	161	163	158	134	132	127	130	82
Pakistan	Difficult situation	151	159	152	152	157	150	150	128	119
Azerbaijan	Difficult situation	152	146	150	139	135	141	136	113	101
Thailand	Difficult situation	153	130	124	135	122	107	59	82	65
Belarus	Difficult situation	154	151	154	151	151	152	144	151	124
Swaziland	Difficult situation	155	144	147	138	127	118	101	124	89
Philippines	Difficult situation	156	122	139	128	142	139	111	118	89
Sri Lanka	Difficult situation	158	162	165	156	141	115	109	89	51
Kyrgyzstan	Difficult situation	159	125	111	110	123	111	107	104	98
China	Difficult situation	171	168	167	163	163	159	162	161	138
Saudi Arabia	Very serious situation	157	163	161	148	161	154	159	156	125
Libya	Very serious situation	160	156	160	155	152	162	154	153	129
Somalia	Very serious situation	161	164	153	159	144	149	128	140
Kazakhstan	Very serious situation	162	142	125	125	128	119	131	138	116
Uzbekistan	Very serious situation	163	160	162	160	158	155	142	154	120
Tunisia	Very serious situation	164	154	143	145	148	147	152	149	128
Vietnam	Very serious situation	165	166	168	162	155	158	161	159	131
Cuba	Very serious situation	166	170	169	165	165	161	166	165	134
Equatorial Guinea	Very serious situation	167	158	156	153	137	133	133	139	117
Laos	Very serious situation	168	169	164	161	156	155	153	163	133
Rwanda	Very serious situation	169	157	145	147	128	122	113	110	107
Yemen	Very serious situation	170	167	155	143	149	136	135	136	103
Sudan	Very serious situation	172	148	135	140	139	133	132	142	105
Syria	Very serious situation	173	165	159	154	153	145	155	155	126
Burma	Very serious situation	174	171	170	164	164	163	165	164	137
Iran	Very serious situation	175	172	166	166	162	164	158	160	122
Turkmenistan	Very serious situation	176	173	171	167	167	165	164	158	136
North Korea	Very serious situation	177	174	172	168	168	167	167	166	139
Eritrea	Very serious situation	178	175	173	169	166	166	163	162	132
Serbia and Montenegro						45	65	77	85
Israel (extra-territorial)				149	103	135
Israel (Israeli territory)				46	44			36	44
Grenade								55
Israel (Occupied Territories)								115	146
Yugoslavia										60

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World Press Freedom Index

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