Data for 1999

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1999

Name: Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1999
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1999, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1999 covers 175 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.988; North Korea is lowest, at 0.011. The middle country reads 0.724. Against 1998, 60 values changed (38 up, 22 down), 1 country joined.

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Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index · Data for 1999

HighestDenmark

0.988

LowestNorth Korea

0.011

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

175countries
1measure
1999the year it describes
154distinct 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, 1999, 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 175 countries · select a heading to sort

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1999: 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	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.973
=7	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.970
=7	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.970
=9	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.966
=9	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.966
=11	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.964
=11	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.964
=13	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.962
=13	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.962
=13	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.962
=16	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.960
=16	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.960
=16	United States`USA`Northern America	0.960
19	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.958
20	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.957
=21	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.953
=21	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.953
23	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.950
24	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.949
25	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.948
26	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.942
27	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.941
28	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.940
=29	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.939
=29	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.939
31	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.938
32	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.933
33	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.932
34	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.928
35	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.924
36	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.923
37	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.922
38	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.907
39	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.899
40	Chile`CHL`South America	0.893
=41	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.888
=41	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.888
43	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.885
=44	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.884
=44	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.884
46	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.883
47	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.876
48	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.873
49	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.866
50	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.865
51	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.864
52	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.861
53	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.860
=54	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.855
=54	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.855
=54	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.855
57	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.851
58	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.847
59	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.846
60	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.835
61	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.828
62	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.826
63	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.823
64	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.820
65	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.818
66	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.812
=67	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.811
=67	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.811
69	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.807
70	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.802
71	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.795
72	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.793
73	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.766
74	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.765
75	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.762
76	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.753
77	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.749
78	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.748
79	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.745
80	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.742
81	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.741
82	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.739
83	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.736
84	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.732
85	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.731
=86	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.729
=86	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.729
88	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.724
=89	Colombia`COL`South America	0.719
=89	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.719
91	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.717
92	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.701
93	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.696
94	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.691
95	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.690
96	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.689
97	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.688
=98	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.684
=98	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.684
=100	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.682
=100	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.682
102	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.678
103	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.673
104	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.665
105	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.663
106	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.661
107	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.658
=108	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.653
=108	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.653
110	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.651
111	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.642
112	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.635
113	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.612
114	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.606
115	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.604
116	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.600
117	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.596
118	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.584
119	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.569
120	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.568
121	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.544
122	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.541
=123	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.521
=123	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.521
125	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.490
126	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.472
127	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.468
128	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.445
129	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.424
130	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.422
131	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.415
132	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.412
133	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.400
134	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.382
135	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.380
136	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.376
137	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.374
=138	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.371
=138	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.371
140	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.367
141	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.339
142	Peru`PER`South America	0.333
143	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.308
144	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.301
145	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.293
146	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.278
147	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.271
148	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.270
149	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.241
150	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.240
151	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.236
152	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.221
153	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.203
154	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.198
155	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.174
156	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.164
157	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.159
158	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.153
159	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.142
160	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.129
161	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.110
162	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.098
163	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.092
164	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.091
165	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.069
166	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.059
167	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.049
168	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.046
169	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.037
170	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.030
171	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.029
172	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.024
173	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.021
174	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.017
175	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.011

02In 1999

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

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

Lowest

175North Korea0.011
174Laos0.017
173Turkmenistan0.021
172Syria0.024
171Libya0.029

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.724. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031998 → 1999

Since 1998

What changed between 1998 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
60values changed, of 174 in both
38 · 22rose · fell
114unchanged

Rose most

Indonesia0.538 → 0.818+0.280
Nigeria0.654 → 0.855+0.201
Timor-Leste0.118 → 0.278+0.160
Slovakia0.816 → 0.928+0.112
Montenegro0.654 → 0.729+0.075

Fell most

Venezuela0.867 → 0.762−0.105
Belarus0.362 → 0.301−0.061
Philippines0.898 → 0.860−0.038
Armenia0.628 → 0.606−0.022
Uzbekistan0.049 → 0.030−0.019

+ Kosovo

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 1999.
154 distinct values among 175
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 175 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
175 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-1999-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 (1999). Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1999 [data set], describing 1999. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-expression/1999

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1998
174 countries
The year after ›
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2000
175 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, 1999: questions and answers

Which country has the highest freedom of expression in Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1999?

Denmark, at 0.988, of the 175 countries in the file.

What year does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1999 describe?

1999.

How many countries does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1999 cover?

175.

Where can I download Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 1999?

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, 1999 the newest?

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

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