The State of World Press Freedom

The 2025 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders, was released today. This year, the release highlights that the index's economic indicator "now stands at an unprecedented, critical low." The indicator fell more than 2 percentage points in one year to just 44.1 points in 2025, with all scores under 55 signaling a difficult situation. Together with losses to other subindices, the overall index entered difficult territory for the first time at 54.7 points.

Economic pressure was an often underestimated aspect of media freedom, the report states, as problem to financial security include ownership concentration, pressure from advertisers and financial backers as well as lack of transparent public aid.

Taking a look at wider trends, this chart shows that 42 countries were listed in the worst category in the index - where there exists a “very serious” situation of the press. 48 countries each fall under the “difficult” category and the “problematic" group, while 42 have either a “satisfactory” or “good” situation. Norway is once more at the top of the list, ranking in first place for the ninth year running, followed by Estonia and the Netherlands. The final trio, considered the most repressive countries for the press, are China (position 178), North Korea (179) and Eritrea (180).

The United States ranked 57th in 2025, having dropped two positions. RSF notes that the country is experiencing growing distrust in the media, partly driven by antagonism from political officials, while there have also been cases of local law enforcement having raided newsrooms.

Reporters Without Borders have compiled the index annually since 2002. The agency devised a new methodology in 2021 with the help of a panel of experts from the media and academic world. This year, 180 countries and territories were analyzed based on five indicators covering political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context as well as security.