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Data for 1996

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996

1996, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996 covers 173 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.988; North Korea is lowest, at 0.011. The middle country reads 0.701. Against 1995, 69 values changed (40 up, 29 down), the same countries are covered.

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Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index · Data for 1996

HighestDenmark

0.988

LowestNorth Korea

0.011

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

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 173 countries · select a heading to sort

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe0.988
2GermanyDEUWestern Europe0.984
3SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe0.978
4FinlandFINNorthern Europe0.977
5CzechiaCZEEastern Europe0.976
6SwedenSWENorthern Europe0.975
7BelgiumBELWestern Europe0.973
8PortugalPRTSouthern Europe0.970
=9AustriaAUTWestern Europe0.966
=9IrelandIRLNorthern Europe0.966
=11AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand0.964
=11PolandPOLEastern Europe0.964
=13Costa RicaCRICentral America0.962
=13FranceFRAWestern Europe0.962
=13NorwayNORNorthern Europe0.962
=16GreeceGRCSouthern Europe0.960
=16SpainESPSouthern Europe0.960
=16United StatesUSANorthern America0.960
=19NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe0.958
=19New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand0.958
21LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe0.957
=22EstoniaESTNorthern Europe0.955
=22HungaryHUNEastern Europe0.955
24IcelandISLNorthern Europe0.950
25SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe0.947

02In 1996

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

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

Lowest

  1. 173North Korea0.011
  2. 172Laos0.017
  3. 171Syria0.024
  4. 170Libya0.029
  5. 169Afghanistan0.039

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

031995 → 1996

Since 1995

What changed between 1995 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 69values changed, of 173 in both
  • 40 · 29rose · fell
  • 104unchanged

Rose most

Fell most

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 1996.

  • 145 distinct values among 173

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 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 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

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 (1996). Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996 [data set], describing 1996. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-expression/1996

0636 held

Other years

07Questions

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996: questions and answers

Which country has the highest freedom of expression in Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996?

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

What year does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996 describe?

1996.

How many countries does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996 cover?

173.

Where can I download Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1996?

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, 1996 the newest?

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

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