Data for 1995

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1995

Name: Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1995
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1995, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1995 covers 173 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.988; North Korea is lowest, at 0.011. The middle country reads 0.701. Against 1994, 67 values changed (43 up, 24 down), the same countries are covered.

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Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index · Data for 1995

HighestDenmark

0.988

LowestNorth Korea

0.011

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

173countries
1measure
1995the year it describes
149distinct 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, 1995, 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 173 countries · select a heading to sort

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1995: 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	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.973
8	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.970
9	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.966
=10	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.964
=10	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.964
=12	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.962
=12	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.962
=14	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.960
=14	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.960
=14	United States`USA`Northern America	0.960
17	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.959
=18	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.958
=18	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.958
20	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.957
=21	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.955
=21	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.955
23	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.954
24	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.944
25	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.943
26	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.941
27	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.937
28	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.935
29	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.929
30	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.927
=31	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.924
=31	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.924
=33	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.923
=33	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.923
35	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.915
36	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.907
37	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.903
38	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.898
=39	Chile`CHL`South America	0.897
=39	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.897
=39	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.897
42	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.892
=43	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.888
=43	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.888
45	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.886
46	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.884
47	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.883
48	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.879
49	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.876
50	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.871
51	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.869
52	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.866
53	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.865
=54	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.858
=54	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.858
56	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.855
57	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.847
58	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.841
59	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.835
60	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.826
61	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.824
=62	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.812
=62	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.812
=64	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.811
=64	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.811
66	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.809
67	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.807
=68	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.804
=68	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.804
70	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.800
71	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.795
72	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.788
73	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.787
74	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.768
75	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.762
76	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.761
77	Colombia`COL`South America	0.740
78	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.737
79	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.734
80	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.726
81	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.721
82	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.718
83	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.710
84	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.709
=85	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.707
=85	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.707
=87	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.701
=87	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.701
89	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.700
90	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.697
91	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.695
92	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.691
93	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.689
=94	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.684
=94	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.684
96	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.679
97	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.668
98	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.661
99	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.659
100	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.654
101	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.653
=102	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.648
=102	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.648
104	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.646
105	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.635
106	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.622
107	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.620
108	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.614
109	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.611
=110	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.603
=110	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.603
112	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.582
113	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.564
=114	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.562
=114	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.562
116	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.549
117	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.545
118	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.535
119	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.529
120	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.505
121	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.487
122	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.483
123	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.473
124	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.459
125	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.435
=126	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.425
=126	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.425
128	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.424
129	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.415
130	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.400
131	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.383
=132	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.380
=132	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.380
134	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.367
135	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.353
136	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.346
137	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.342
138	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.335
139	Peru`PER`South America	0.334
140	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.286
141	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.271
142	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.246
143	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.241
144	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.240
145	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.236
146	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.234
147	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.229
148	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.225
149	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.175
150	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.172
151	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.163
152	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.155
153	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.148
154	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.142
155	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.136
156	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.129
157	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.110
158	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.092
159	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.089
160	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.083
=161	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.077
=161	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.077
163	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.069
164	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.061
165	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.059
166	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.058
167	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.053
168	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.046
169	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.042
170	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.029
171	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.024
172	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.017
173	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.011

02In 1995

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

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

Lowest

173North Korea0.011
172Laos0.017
171Syria0.024
170Libya0.029
169Turkmenistan0.042

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.701. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031994 → 1995

Since 1994

What changed between 1994 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
67values changed, of 173 in both
43 · 24rose · fell
106unchanged

Rose most

Haiti0.471 → 0.697+0.226
Malawi0.488 → 0.659+0.171
Guinea-Bissau0.443 → 0.545+0.102
Sri Lanka0.655 → 0.709+0.054
Ghana0.745 → 0.795+0.050

Fell most

Gambia0.349 → 0.234−0.115
Rwanda0.240 → 0.148−0.092
Belarus0.764 → 0.679−0.085
Kazakhstan0.469 → 0.425−0.044
Ethiopia0.416 → 0.380−0.036

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 1995.
149 distinct values among 173
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.960. 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 173 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
173 rows · 4.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download freedom-of-expression-1995-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 (1995). Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1995 [data set], describing 1995. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-expression/1995

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1994
173 countries
The year after ›
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996
173 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, 1995: questions and answers

Which country has the highest freedom of expression in Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1995?

Denmark, at 0.988, of the 173 countries in the file.

What year does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1995 describe?

1995.

How many countries does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1995 cover?

173.

Where can I download Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1995?

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, 1995 the newest?

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

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