Data for 1991

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991

Name: Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1991, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991 covers 171 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.988; North Korea is lowest, at 0.011. The middle country reads 0.611. Against 1990, 97 values changed (79 up, 18 down), 3 countries joined.

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Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index · Data for 1991

HighestDenmark

0.988

LowestNorth Korea

0.011

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

171countries
1measure
1991the year it describes
156distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 171 countries · select a heading to sort

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.988
2	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.984
3	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.978
4	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.977
5	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.976
6	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.975
7	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.970
8	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.968
9	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.966
10	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.964
=11	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.962
=11	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.962
13	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.961
=14	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.960
=14	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.960
16	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.959
=17	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.958
=17	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.958
=19	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.957
=19	United States`USA`Northern America	0.957
21	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.953
22	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.943
23	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.940
=24	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.936
=24	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.936
=26	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.932
=26	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.932
28	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.926
29	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.923
30	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.921
31	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.915
32	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.907
33	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.900
34	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.899
35	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.897
36	Chile`CHL`South America	0.895
=37	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.889
=37	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.889
=39	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.888
=39	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.888
41	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.876
42	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.873
43	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.870
44	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.868
=45	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.867
=45	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.867
47	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.862
48	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.860
49	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.856
50	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.855
51	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.847
52	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.839
53	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.835
54	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.831
55	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.829
56	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.819
57	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.817
58	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.812
=59	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.811
=59	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.811
61	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.804
62	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.798
63	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.788
64	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.770
65	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.765
66	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.748
67	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.735
68	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.733
69	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.724
70	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.722
=71	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.721
=71	Peru`PER`South America	0.721
73	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.720
74	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.705
75	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.703
76	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.691
77	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.687
78	Colombia`COL`South America	0.685
79	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.671
80	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.641
81	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.640
82	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.639
83	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.636
84	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.628
85	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.626
86	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.611
=87	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.609
=87	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.609
89	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.608
90	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.605
91	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.596
92	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.594
93	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.589
94	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.582
95	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.571
96	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.562
97	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.555
98	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.548
99	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.546
100	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.534
101	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.526
=102	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.521
=102	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.521
104	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.504
105	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.494
106	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.481
107	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.464
108	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.460
109	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.457
110	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.454
111	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.449
112	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.436
113	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.435
114	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.434
115	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.433
116	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.432
117	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.416
=118	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.412
=118	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.412
120	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.383
121	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.371
122	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.370
123	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.356
124	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.354
125	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.351
126	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.336
127	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.332
128	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.320
129	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.286
130	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.285
=131	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.284
=131	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.284
133	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.253
134	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.241
135	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.237
136	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.236
137	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.229
138	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.208
139	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.205
140	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.201
141	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.186
142	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.177
143	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.172
144	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.170
145	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.166
146	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.155
147	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.144
148	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.143
149	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.142
150	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.137
151	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.130
152	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.124
153	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.123
154	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.122
155	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.110
156	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.094
157	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.082
158	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.081
159	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.075
160	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.066
161	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.059
162	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.058
163	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.054
164	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.043
165	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.042
166	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.029
167	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.027
168	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.022
169	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.017
170	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.016
171	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.011

02In 1991

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.988
2Germany0.984
3Switzerland0.978
4Finland0.977
5Czechia0.976

Lowest

171North Korea0.011
170Malawi0.016
169Laos0.017
168Syria0.022
167Cambodia0.027

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.611. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031990 → 1991

Since 1990

What changed between 1990 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+3 / −0countries joined / left
97values changed, of 168 in both
79 · 18rose · fell
71unchanged

Rose most

Albania0.045 → 0.733+0.688
Republic of the Congo0.269 → 0.703+0.434
Mali0.382 → 0.671+0.289
Ethiopia0.045 → 0.332+0.287
Gabon0.357 → 0.626+0.269

Fell most

Maldives0.136 → 0.081−0.055
Thailand0.603 → 0.562−0.041
Lebanon0.663 → 0.628−0.035
Peru0.750 → 0.721−0.029
Guyana0.583 → 0.555−0.028

+ Croatia

+ North Macedonia+ Somaliland

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1991.
156 distinct values among 171
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.962. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 171 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
171 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download freedom-of-expression-1991-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-Core-v16_csv.zip

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (1991). Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991 [data set], describing 1991. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-expression/1991

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1990
168 countries
The year after ›
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1992
172 countries
All of them
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991: questions and answers

Which country has the highest freedom of expression in Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991?

Denmark, at 0.988, of the 171 countries in the file.

What year does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991 describe?

1991.

How many countries does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991 cover?

171.

Where can I download Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991?

On this page, as a CSV file holding every value exactly as published, or from the publisher’s own site, linked below.

Is Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1991 the newest?

No. The newest held here is Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2025.

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