Which countries rank highest on freedom of expression?

Every country ranked by the V-Dem freedom of expression index for 2024 (179 countries, 0–1 scale).

Rank	Country	Score	1y change	10y change
1	Denmark	0.985	±0.000	−0.004
2	Switzerland	0.974	±0.000	−0.004
3	Ireland	0.974	±0.000	±0.000
4	Belgium	0.969	−0.001	−0.008
5	Estonia	0.969	±0.000	+0.005
6	Czechia	0.961	+0.003	+0.046
7	France	0.958	±0.000	−0.013
8	Luxembourg	0.958	±0.000	±0.000
9	New Zealand	0.953	+0.006	+0.010
10	Finland	0.952	−0.012	−0.027
11	Sweden	0.949	±0.000	−0.026
12	Norway	0.944	±0.000	−0.036
13	Canada	0.943	−0.010	+0.001
14	Australia	0.940	+0.006	−0.007
15	Germany	0.936	−0.011	−0.048
16	Lithuania	0.936	+0.027	−0.008
17	Brazil	0.929	+0.029	−0.006
18	Latvia	0.929	−0.010	−0.021
19	Chile	0.923	+0.012	−0.031
20	Jamaica	0.923	±0.000	−0.016
21	Uruguay	0.918	+0.026	−0.055
22	Austria	0.917	−0.010	−0.048
23	Costa Rica	0.914	±0.000	−0.045
24	United Kingdom	0.914	−0.022	−0.035
25	Poland	0.912	+0.266	−0.058
26	Iceland	0.911	+0.003	−0.013
27	Barbados	0.905	±0.000	+0.024
28	Dominican Republic	0.902	−0.029	+0.099
29	Trinidad and Tobago	0.898	±0.000	+0.058
30	Kenya	0.896	+0.012	+0.014
31	Portugal	0.893	−0.049	−0.076
32	United States of America	0.889	−0.038	−0.077
33	Nigeria	0.888	−0.006	−0.017
34	Netherlands	0.888	−0.023	−0.069
35	Vanuatu	0.882	−0.039	−0.026
36	Suriname	0.881	±0.000	+0.013
37	Honduras	0.878	−0.012	+0.199
38	Ghana	0.863	+0.001	−0.041
39	Spain	0.860	−0.028	−0.070
40	Sri Lanka	0.857	+0.113	+0.305
41	Cape Verde	0.854	+0.002	−0.044
42	Japan	0.849	−0.006	−0.022
43	Taiwan	0.848	−0.022	−0.062
44	Senegal	0.846	−0.032	−0.096
45	Italy	0.844	−0.023	−0.105
46	Colombia	0.843	−0.024	+0.013
47	Liberia	0.839	±0.000	±0.000
48	Malta	0.838	+0.006	+0.021
49	Timor-Leste	0.837	+0.030	+0.029
50	Seychelles	0.837	+0.008	+0.214
51	South Africa	0.836	+0.004	−0.040
52	Israel	0.835	−0.008	−0.005
53	Sierra Leone	0.823	±0.000	+0.053
54	Solomon Islands	0.823	±0.000	+0.008
55	Greece	0.820	+0.019	−0.121
56	Cyprus	0.817	−0.007	−0.111
57	Nepal	0.814	−0.026	−0.045
58	Zambia	0.813	−0.036	+0.143
59	Guatemala	0.811	+0.140	+0.054
60	Botswana	0.810	−0.001	+0.019
61	Namibia	0.810	−0.010	−0.023
62	Montenegro	0.808	+0.017	+0.090
63	The Gambia	0.807	+0.004	+0.616
64	Slovakia	0.806	−0.131	−0.117
65	Bulgaria	0.804	+0.016	+0.021
66	Panama	0.801	+0.024	−0.025
67	Sao Tome and Principe	0.801	±0.000	−0.021
68	Papua New Guinea	0.789	−0.019	+0.015
69	South Korea	0.787	+0.002	+0.011
70	Malawi	0.786	+0.034	−0.041
71	Croatia	0.786	−0.020	−0.121
72	Guyana	0.780	+0.017	+0.013
73	Tunisia	0.770	−0.015	−0.090
74	Kosovo	0.767	−0.049	−0.019
75	Argentina	0.761	−0.176	−0.143
76	Gabon	0.757	−0.019	−0.062
77	Niger	0.752	−0.051	−0.127
78	Fiji	0.749	+0.020	+0.380
79	Ecuador	0.748	−0.007	+0.056
80	Paraguay	0.747	+0.006	+0.023
81	Slovenia	0.735	−0.067	−0.206
82	Maldives	0.733	−0.034	+0.133
83	Armenia	0.731	−0.018	+0.104
84	Peru	0.728	−0.065	−0.178
85	Romania	0.728	−0.033	−0.128
86	Haiti	0.721	+0.064	−0.077
87	Indonesia	0.721	+0.012	−0.102
88	Lebanon	0.720	−0.010	−0.057
89	Bolivia	0.718	−0.024	−0.042
90	Bhutan	0.709	−0.008	+0.007
91	Lesotho	0.705	−0.039	−0.037
92	Madagascar	0.705	−0.008	−0.037
93	Georgia	0.704	−0.149	−0.201
94	Moldova	0.701	−0.104	−0.073
95	Tanzania	0.699	−0.002	−0.041
96	Albania	0.698	+0.005	−0.066
97	Benin	0.695	−0.003	−0.158
98	Mongolia	0.693	−0.029	−0.200
99	Mexico	0.671	+0.006	−0.100
100	Philippines	0.667	+0.003	−0.212
101	Ivory Coast	0.667	−0.002	−0.034
102	North Macedonia	0.662	−0.074	+0.118
103	Somalia	0.660	+0.016	+0.085
104	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.653	+0.001	−0.081
105	Mauritania	0.650	−0.048	−0.149
106	Somaliland	0.643	−0.007	−0.075
107	Democratic Republic of the Congo	0.641	−0.047	−0.045
108	Mali	0.630	−0.079	−0.251
109	Malaysia	0.619	−0.008	+0.297
110	Mauritius	0.616	−0.002	−0.241
111	Central African Republic	0.615	−0.017	−0.102
112	Guinea-Bissau	0.615	−0.033	−0.051
113	Cameroon	0.596	±0.000	−0.086
114	Morocco	0.595	−0.006	−0.018
115	Kuwait	0.589	−0.028	−0.053
116	Togo	0.584	−0.051	−0.198
117	Jordan	0.582	+0.054	+0.035
118	Pakistan	0.568	+0.025	−0.240
119	Libya	0.562	+0.004	−0.114
120	Iraq	0.559	+0.013	−0.077
121	Zanzibar	0.555	−0.041	−0.056
122	Guinea	0.545	−0.010	−0.143
123	Thailand	0.525	+0.009	+0.264
124	Comoros	0.525	−0.030	−0.252
125	Mozambique	0.524	−0.105	−0.200
126	Uganda	0.521	−0.016	−0.154
127	Kyrgyzstan	0.494	+0.014	−0.218
128	India	0.493	+0.070	−0.320
129	Angola	0.493	+0.035	+0.115
130	Hungary	0.493	−0.016	−0.276
131	Chad	0.480	+0.007	−0.102
132	Serbia	0.425	−0.017	−0.102
133	Ukraine	0.417	−0.016	−0.219
134	Republic of the Congo	0.397	+0.004	+0.003
135	El Salvador	0.389	−0.035	−0.454
136	Zimbabwe	0.383	−0.048	−0.037
137	Kazakhstan	0.372	±0.000	+0.028
138	Burkina Faso	0.350	−0.234	−0.500
139	Algeria	0.343	−0.055	−0.323
140	Djibouti	0.342	±0.000	+0.075
141	Singapore	0.340	−0.013	−0.012
142	Hong Kong	0.336	+0.105	−0.453
143	Palestine/West Bank	0.315	−0.108	−0.237
144	Bangladesh	0.308	−0.032	−0.129
145	Ethiopia	0.269	−0.047	−0.029
146	Sudan	0.249	−0.057	+0.033
147	Yemen	0.245	−0.004	−0.175
148	Uzbekistan	0.232	+0.012	+0.182
149	Iran	0.228	+0.075	+0.036
150	Venezuela	0.223	−0.015	−0.165
151	South Sudan	0.186	+0.029	+0.021
152	Egypt	0.185	+0.013	+0.015
153	Türkiye	0.179	+0.005	−0.196
154	Burundi	0.166	−0.053	−0.371
155	Cambodia	0.156	−0.009	−0.210
156	Rwanda	0.152	−0.033	−0.084
157	Oman	0.148	±0.000	+0.028
158	Equatorial Guinea	0.140	−0.030	−0.021
159	Vietnam	0.138	−0.004	−0.011
160	Bahrain	0.132	±0.000	−0.028
161	Azerbaijan	0.129	−0.042	−0.045
162	Eswatini	0.117	±0.000	−0.086
163	Tajikistan	0.115	+0.044	−0.107
164	Cuba	0.091	+0.021	+0.045
165	Afghanistan	0.090	+0.038	−0.607
166	Saudi Arabia	0.088	±0.000	−0.021
167	Russia	0.079	−0.012	−0.239
168	Palestine/Gaza	0.072	−0.131	−0.161
169	Syria	0.069	−0.013	+0.033
170	United Arab Emirates	0.064	+0.001	−0.061
171	Qatar	0.055	+0.003	−0.054
172	Burma/Myanmar	0.048	+0.006	−0.477
173	China	0.044	−0.004	−0.075
174	Turkmenistan	0.044	+0.006	+0.020
175	Laos	0.038	+0.003	+0.008
176	Belarus	0.029	−0.003	−0.241
177	Nicaragua	0.026	−0.006	−0.496
178	Eritrea	0.021	−0.004	+0.003
179	North Korea	0.012	±0.000	±0.000

Frequently asked questions

Denmark ranks #1 of 179 countries on the V-Dem freedom of expression index in 2024, with the highest score of 0.985 on a 0–1 scale.

What are the top 3 countries for freedom of expression in 2024?

In 2024, the top three of 179 ranked countries are Denmark (0.985), Switzerland (0.974), and Ireland (0.974).

Which country ranks last on freedom of expression in 2024?

North Korea ranks #179 of 179 with a score of 0.012.

Which country changed most on freedom of expression over the last decade?

The Gambia shows the largest 10-year shift: its score improved by 0.616 points over the past decade, standing at 0.807 (rank #63) in 2024.

How is the freedom of expression index measured?

The index comes from the V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) project and runs from 0 to 1. Higher scores are better. The 2024 edition covers 179 countries.