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Data for 2003

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2003

2003, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2003 covers 175 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.988; North Korea is lowest, at 0.011. The middle country reads 0.746. Against 2002, 58 values changed (38 up, 20 down), the same countries are covered.

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Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index · Data for 2003

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, 2003, 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 175 countries · select a heading to sort

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2003: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe0.988
2GermanyDEUWestern Europe0.984
3SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe0.978
=4FinlandFINNorthern Europe0.977
=4NorwayNORNorthern Europe0.977
6CzechiaCZEEastern Europe0.975
7IrelandIRLNorthern Europe0.974
8BelgiumBELWestern Europe0.973
=9PortugalPRTSouthern Europe0.970
=9SwedenSWENorthern Europe0.970
11AustriaAUTWestern Europe0.966
12AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand0.965
13PolandPOLEastern Europe0.964
14Costa RicaCRICentral America0.963
15FranceFRAWestern Europe0.962
=16GreeceGRCSouthern Europe0.960
=16SpainESPSouthern Europe0.960
=16United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe0.960
19New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand0.958
20LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe0.957
21United StatesUSANorthern America0.956
=22HungaryHUNEastern Europe0.955
=22NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe0.955
=22South KoreaKOREastern Asia0.955
25EstoniaESTNorthern Europe0.954

02In 2003

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

  1. 1Denmark0.988
  2. 2Germany0.984
  3. 3Switzerland0.978
  4. 4Finlandshared0.977
  5. 4Norwayshared0.977

Lowest

  1. 175North Korea0.011
  2. 174Eritrea0.015
  3. 173Laos0.019
  4. 172Turkmenistan0.021
  5. 171Libya0.029

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.746. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032002 → 2003

Since 2002

What changed between 2002 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 58values changed, of 175 in both
  • 38 · 20rose · fell
  • 117unchanged

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 2003.

  • 153 distinct values among 175

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 4 countries share 0.923. 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

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 (2003). Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2003 [data set], describing 2003. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-expression/2003

0636 held

Other years

07Questions

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2003: questions and answers

Which country has the highest freedom of expression in Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2003?

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

What year does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2003 describe?

2003.

How many countries does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2003 cover?

175.

Where can I download Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2003?

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, 2003 the newest?

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

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