Press Freedom Around the World

Deeply intertwined with the quality and stability of democracies, press freedom is on the long list of factors we take into account when assessing which information to trust, especially when it comes to sources of information (see Who Owns the Truth).

When there is freedom in the press, journalists have the power to defend whatever views they believe in, free from the influence of local political groups, and also to challenge any information they want – including that issued by the government or political parties. Conversely, when information comes from a region lacking press freedom – whether from a foreign publication or via international correspondents of our favourite local paper – we should have caution and heighten our critical filter.

To assist with this, an organisation called Reporters Without Borders

tries to assess the levels of press freedom in different regions every year, considering the political, economic, social and legal contexts, as well as professional safety. We have summarised their 2023 findings for you as part of our ongoing mission to help you navigate information and decide what to trust.

Read it with the deserved caution: According to the RSF, the ranking is highly influenced by a “qualitative analysis based on the responses of hundreds of press freedom experts selected by RSF (including journalists, academics and human rights defenders)”. Because this is a subjective and complex topic, their findings shouldn’t therefore be regarded as “hard truths,” but rather as valuable yet directional evidence.

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2023 Press Freedom Index

Position	Score	Geography	Situation
1	95.18	Norway	Good
2	89.91	Ireland	Good
3	89.48	Denmark	Good
4	88.15	Sweden	Good
5	87.94	Finland	Good
6	87	Netherlands	Good
7	86.79	Lithuania	Good
8	85.31	Estonia	Good
9	84.6	Portugal	Suboptimal
10	84.49	East Timor	Suboptimal
11	84.47	Liechtenstein	Suboptimal
12	84.4	Switzerland	Suboptimal
13	84.23	New Zealand	Suboptimal
14	83.58	Czechia	Suboptimal
15	83.53	Canada	Suboptimal
16	83.27	Latvia	Suboptimal
17	83.22	Slovakia	Suboptimal
18	83.19	Iceland	Suboptimal
19	82.15	Samoa	Suboptimal
20	81.98	Luxembourg	Suboptimal
21	81.91	Germany	Suboptimal
22	80.91	Namibia	Suboptimal
23	80.2	Costa Rica	Suboptimal
24	78.72	France	Suboptimal
25	78.6	South Africa	Suboptimal
26	78.51	United Kingdom	Suboptimal
27	78.24	Australia	Suboptimal
28	77.62	Moldova	Suboptimal
29	77.3	Austria	Suboptimal
30	76.54	Trinidad & Tob.	Suboptimal
31	76.47	Belgium	Suboptimal
32	75.89	Jamaica	Suboptimal
33	75.72	Cabo Verde	Suboptimal
34	75.71	Seychelles	Suboptimal
35	75.54	Taiwan	Suboptimal
36	75.37	Spain	Suboptimal
37	75.5	Andorra	Suboptimal
38	74.35	North Macedonia	Suboptimal
39	74.28	Montenegro	Suboptimal
40	73.36	Argentina	Suboptimal
41	72.5	Italy	Suboptimal
42	71.95	Croatia	Suboptimal
43	71.88	Dominican Rep.	Suboptimal
44	71.29	Tonga	Suboptimal
45	71.22	United States	Suboptimal
46	71.6	Gambia	Suboptimal
47	70.83	South Korea	Suboptimal
48	70.62	Suriname	Suboptimal
49	70.61	Armenia	Suboptimal
50	70.59	Slovenia	Suboptimal
51	70.49	Belize	Suboptimal
52	70.33	Uruguay	Suboptimal
53	69.4	Romania	Problematic
54	68.83	Côte d'Ivoire	Problematic
55	68.62	Cyprus	Problematic
56	68.38	Kosovo	Problematic
57	67.66	Poland	Problematic
58	67.64	Burkina Faso	Problematic
59	67.62	Papua New Guin.	Problematic
60	67.5	Guyana	Problematic
61	66.84	Niger	Problematic
62	65.93	Ghana	Problematic
63	65.56	Mauritius	Problematic
64	65.43	Bosnia-Herzegov.	Problematic
65	64.61	Botswana	Problematic
66	64.34	Liberia	Problematic
67	64.29	Lesotho	Problematic
68	63.95	Japan	Problematic
69	63.67	Panama	Problematic
70	63.6	Togo	Problematic
71	62.98	Bulgaria	Problematic
72	62.96	Hungary	Problematic
73	62.83	Malaysia	Problematic
74	62.55	Sierra Leone	Problematic
75	62.25	Comoros	Problematic
76	61.73	Northern Cyprus	Problematic
77	61.69	Georgia	Problematic
78	61.57	Guinea-Bissau	Problematic
79	61.19	Ukraine	Problematic
80	60.51	Ecuador	Problematic
81	60.42	Congo-Brazzaville	Problematic
82	60.34	Malawi	Problematic
83	60.9	Chile	Problematic
84	59.76	Malta	Problematic
85	59.51	Guinea	Problematic
86	59.45	Mauritania	Problematic
87	59.41	Zambia	Problematic
88	59.33	Mongolia	Problematic
89	59.27	Fiji	Problematic
90	59.25	Bhutan	Problematic
91	59.16	Serbia	Problematic
92	58.67	Brazil	Problematic
93	58.36	OECS	Problematic
94	58.12	Gabon	Problematic
95	57.89	Nepal	Problematic
96	57.86	Albania	Problematic
97	57.57	Israel	Problematic
98	57.56	Central African R.	Problematic
99	57.38	Haiti	Problematic
100	56.93	Maldives	Problematic
101	56.66	Madagascar	Problematic
102	56.13	Mozambique	Problematic
103	55.96	Paraguay	Problematic
104	55.82	Senegal	Problematic
105	55.28	Qatar	Problematic
106	55.24	Thailand	Problematic
107	55.2	Greece	Problematic
108	54.83	Indonesia	Difficult
109	53.73	Chad	Difficult
110	52.74	Peru	Difficult
111	52.66	Eswatini	Difficult
112	52.44	Benin	Difficult
113	52.29	Mali	Difficult
114	52.14	Burundi	Difficult
115	51.36	El Salvador	Difficult
116	51.15	Kenya	Difficult
117	51.9	Bolivia	Difficult
118	50.62	South Sudan	Difficult
119	50.46	Lebanon	Difficult
120	50.35	Equatorial Guin.	Difficult
121	50.11	Tunisia	Difficult
122	49.91	Kyrgyzstan	Difficult
123	49.56	Nigeria	Difficult
124	48.55	DR Congo	Difficult
125	48.3	Angola	Difficult
126	48.17	Zimbabwe	Difficult
127	48.12	Guatemala	Difficult
128	47.98	Mexico	Difficult
129	47.88	Singapore	Difficult
130	47.7	Ethiopia	Difficult
131	46.58	Rwanda	Difficult
132	46.21	Philippines	Difficult
133	46.8	Uganda	Difficult
134	45.87	Kazakhstan	Difficult
135	45.85	Sri Lanka	Difficult
136	45.74	Algeria	Difficult
137	45.73	Uzbekistan	Difficult
138	45.58	Cameroon	Difficult
139	45.23	Colombia	Difficult
140	44.86	Hong Kong	Difficult
141	44.24	Somalia	Difficult
142	44.2	Brunei	Difficult
143	44.2	Tanzania	Difficult
144	43.69	Morocco	Difficult
145	42.99	United Arab Emir.	Difficult
146	42.79	Jordan	Difficult
147	42.2	Cambodia	Difficult
148	40.83	Sudan	Difficult
149	40.22	Libya	Difficult
150	39.95	Pakistan	Critical
151	39.93	Azerbaijan	Critical
152	39.75	Afghanistan	Critical
153	39.6	Tajikistan	Critical
154	38.84	Kuwait	Critical
155	37.87	Oman	Critical
156	37.86	Palestine	Critical
157	37.17	Belarus	Critical
158	37.9	Nicaragua	Critical
159	36.99	Venezuela	Critical
160	36.66	Laos	Critical
161	36.62	India	Critical
162	35.87	Djibouti	Critical
163	35.31	Bangladesh	Critical
164	34.77	Russia	Critical
165	33.97	Türkiye	Critical
166	33.37	Egypt	Critical
167	32.94	Iraq	Critical
168	32.78	Yemen	Critical
169	32.65	Honduras	Critical
170	32.43	Saudi Arabia	Critical
171	30.59	Bahrain	Critical
172	29	Cuba	Critical
173	28.26	Myanmar	Critical
174	27.86	Eritrea	Critical
175	27.22	Syria	Critical
176	25.82	Turkmenistan	Critical
177	24.81	Iran	Critical
178	24.58	Vietnam	Critical
179	22.97	China	Critical
180	21.72	North Korea	Critical