Data for 2005
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2005
2005, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2005 covers 175 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.988; North Korea is lowest, at 0.013. The middle country reads 0.768. Against 2004, 77 values changed (43 up, 34 down), the same countries are covered.
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index · Data for 2005
HighestDenmark
0.988LowestNorth Korea
0.013Shaded 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, 2005, 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
| derived | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DNKNorthern Europe | 0.988 |
| 2 | DEUWestern Europe | 0.984 |
| 3 | CHEWestern Europe | 0.978 |
| =4 | CZEEastern Europe | 0.977 |
| =4 | FINNorthern Europe | 0.977 |
| =4 | NORNorthern Europe | 0.977 |
| 7 | IRLNorthern Europe | 0.974 |
| 8 | BELWestern Europe | 0.973 |
| 9 | SWENorthern Europe | 0.970 |
| 10 | PRTSouthern Europe | 0.969 |
| =11 | AUTWestern Europe | 0.966 |
| =11 | URYSouth America | 0.966 |
| 13 | AUSAustralia and New Zealand | 0.965 |
| 14 | POLEastern Europe | 0.964 |
| 15 | FRAWestern Europe | 0.962 |
| 16 | CRICentral America | 0.961 |
| =17 | GRCSouthern Europe | 0.960 |
| =17 | ESPSouthern Europe | 0.960 |
| =17 | GBRNorthern Europe | 0.960 |
| =17 | USANorthern America | 0.960 |
| =21 | ESTNorthern Europe | 0.958 |
| =21 | NZLAustralia and New Zealand | 0.958 |
| 23 | LUXWestern Europe | 0.957 |
| =24 | HUNEastern Europe | 0.955 |
| =24 | NLDWestern Europe | 0.955 |
| =24 | KOREastern Asia | 0.955 |
| 27 | LTUNorthern Europe | 0.952 |
| 28 | ISLNorthern Europe | 0.947 |
| 29 | CHLSouth America | 0.940 |
| 30 | LVANorthern Europe | 0.938 |
| 31 | PERSouth America | 0.936 |
| 32 | BRASouth America | 0.933 |
| 33 | CANNorthern America | 0.932 |
| 34 | ITASouthern Europe | 0.930 |
| 35 | SVKEastern Europe | 0.928 |
| =36 | JPNEastern Asia | 0.923 |
| =36 | MLIWestern Africa | 0.923 |
| 38 | TWNEastern Asia | 0.919 |
| 39 | ARGSouth America | 0.911 |
| =40 | CYPWestern Asia | 0.910 |
| =40 | VUTMelanesia | 0.910 |
| 42 | GHAWestern Africa | 0.906 |
| =43 | JAMCaribbean | 0.903 |
| =43 | MNGEastern Asia | 0.903 |
| 45 | HRVSouthern Europe | 0.895 |
| 46 | INDSouthern Asia | 0.892 |
| 47 | SURSouth America | 0.888 |
| =48 | BRBCaribbean | 0.886 |
| =48 | SVNSouthern Europe | 0.886 |
| 50 | TTOCaribbean | 0.882 |
| 51 | BENWestern Africa | 0.881 |
| 52 | CPVWestern Africa | 0.878 |
| 53 | ZAFSouthern Africa | 0.877 |
| 54 | MLTSouthern Europe | 0.876 |
| =55 | ISRWestern Asia | 0.872 |
| =55 | SENWestern Africa | 0.872 |
| 57 | DOMCaribbean | 0.863 |
| =58 | NICCentral America | 0.861 |
| =58 | ROUEastern Europe | 0.861 |
| 60 | BGREastern Europe | 0.858 |
| =61 | BOLSouth America | 0.857 |
| =61 | PANCentral America | 0.857 |
| 63 | NGAWestern Africa | 0.855 |
| 64 | KENEastern Africa | 0.852 |
| 65 | MUSEastern Africa | 0.849 |
| =66 | HTICaribbean | 0.848 |
| =66 | IDNSouth-eastern Asia | 0.848 |
| 68 | HKGEastern Asia | 0.847 |
| 69 | PHLSouth-eastern Asia | 0.837 |
| 70 | LBRWestern Africa | 0.830 |
| 71 | NAMSouthern Africa | 0.825 |
| 72 | BWASouthern Africa | 0.824 |
| 73 | STPMiddle Africa | 0.812 |
| 74 | PNGMelanesia | 0.811 |
| 75 | ALBSouthern Europe | 0.809 |
| 76 | UKREastern Europe | 0.808 |
| =77 | SRBSouthern Europe | 0.805 |
| =77 | TLSSouth-eastern Asia | 0.805 |
| 79 | NERWestern Africa | 0.801 |
| 80 | MEXCentral America | 0.800 |
| 81 | SLBMelanesia | 0.797 |
| 82 | BFAWestern Africa | 0.791 |
| 83 | ECUSouth America | 0.783 |
| 84 | MDGEastern Africa | 0.780 |
| 85 | SLEWestern Africa | 0.776 |
| 86 | MKDSouthern Europe | 0.775 |
| 87 | SLVCentral America | 0.774 |
| 88 | HNDCentral America | 0.768 |
| 89 | ZMBEastern Africa | 0.766 |
| 90 | MRTWestern Africa | 0.750 |
| 91 | GTMCentral America | 0.749 |
| 92 | BIHSouthern Europe | 0.746 |
| =93 | MNESouthern Europe | 0.744 |
| =93 | PAKSouthern Asia | 0.744 |
| 95 | PRYSouth America | 0.742 |
| 96 | BGDSouthern Asia | 0.739 |
| 97 | SomalilandXSLEastern Africa | 0.738 |
| 98 | MOZEastern Africa | 0.734 |
| 99 | MWIEastern Africa | 0.731 |
| 100 | GABMiddle Africa | 0.727 |
| 101 | TZAEastern Africa | 0.723 |
| 102 | GEOWestern Asia | 0.722 |
| =103 | COLSouth America | 0.718 |
| =103 | TURWestern Asia | 0.718 |
| 105 | LBNWestern Asia | 0.717 |
| 106 | GUYSouth America | 0.715 |
| 107 | CIVWestern Africa | 0.710 |
| 108 | XKXSouthern Europe | 0.699 |
| 109 | LSOSouthern Africa | 0.691 |
| 110 | CAFMiddle Africa | 0.690 |
| 111 | FJIMelanesia | 0.683 |
| 112 | AFGSouthern Asia | 0.682 |
| 113 | CMRMiddle Africa | 0.673 |
| 114 | THASouth-eastern Asia | 0.672 |
| 115 | KWTWestern Asia | 0.671 |
| 116 | BDIEastern Africa | 0.666 |
| 117 | DZANorthern Africa | 0.663 |
| 118 | UGAEastern Africa | 0.659 |
| 119 | NPLSouthern Asia | 0.657 |
| 120 | CODMiddle Africa | 0.645 |
| 121 | COMEastern Africa | 0.644 |
| =122 | GNBWestern Africa | 0.638 |
| =122 | VENSouth America | 0.638 |
| 124 | IRQWestern Asia | 0.636 |
| 125 | TGOWestern Africa | 0.624 |
| 126 | MDAEastern Europe | 0.588 |
| 127 | ARMWestern Asia | 0.584 |
| 128 | SYCEastern Africa | 0.579 |
| 129 | GINWestern Africa | 0.572 |
| 130 | MARNorthern Africa | 0.567 |
| 131 | TCDMiddle Africa | 0.554 |
| 132 | KGZCentral Asia | 0.542 |
| 133 | LKASouthern Asia | 0.505 |
| 134 | BTNSouthern Asia | 0.496 |
| 135 | JORWestern Asia | 0.462 |
| 136 | SOMEastern Africa | 0.456 |
| 137 | RUSEastern Europe | 0.455 |
| 138 | KHMSouth-eastern Asia | 0.442 |
| 139 | BHRWestern Asia | 0.437 |
| 140 | YEMWestern Asia | 0.421 |
| 141 | MDVSouthern Asia | 0.376 |
| 142 | ETHEastern Africa | 0.365 |
| 143 | EGYNorthern Africa | 0.359 |
| 144 | COGMiddle Africa | 0.358 |
| 145 | KAZCentral Asia | 0.347 |
| 146 | AGOMiddle Africa | 0.344 |
| 147 | SGPSouth-eastern Asia | 0.340 |
| 148 | MYSSouth-eastern Asia | 0.331 |
| 149 | ZWEEastern Africa | 0.325 |
| 150 | TJKCentral Asia | 0.304 |
| 151 | DJIEastern Africa | 0.286 |
| 152 | BLREastern Europe | 0.239 |
| =153 | AZEWestern Asia | 0.236 |
| =153 | TUNNorthern Africa | 0.236 |
| 155 | IRNSouthern Asia | 0.230 |
| =156 | GMBWestern Africa | 0.214 |
| =156 | RWAEastern Africa | 0.214 |
| 158 | SDNNorthern Africa | 0.211 |
| 159 | CHNEastern Asia | 0.181 |
| 160 | SWZSouthern Africa | 0.167 |
| 161 | VNMSouth-eastern Asia | 0.157 |
| 162 | GNQMiddle Africa | 0.153 |
| 163 | AREWestern Asia | 0.126 |
| 164 | SAUWestern Asia | 0.118 |
| 165 | QATWestern Asia | 0.103 |
| 166 | OMNWestern Asia | 0.069 |
| 167 | MMRSouth-eastern Asia | 0.059 |
| 168 | CUBCaribbean | 0.046 |
| 169 | SYRWestern Asia | 0.042 |
| 170 | LBYNorthern Africa | 0.033 |
| 171 | UZBCentral Asia | 0.032 |
| 172 | TKMCentral Asia | 0.021 |
| 173 | LAOSouth-eastern Asia | 0.019 |
| 174 | ERIEastern Africa | 0.015 |
| 175 | PRKEastern Asia | 0.013 |
02In 2005
At either end
The 5 countries at each end of the headline.
Highest
- 1
Denmark0.988
- 2
Germany0.984
- 3
Switzerland0.978
- 4
Czechiashared0.977
- 4
Finlandshared0.977
Lowest
- 175
North Korea0.013
- 174
Eritrea0.015
- 173
Laos0.019
- 172
Turkmenistan0.021
- 171
Uzbekistan0.032
A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.768. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.
032004 → 2005
Since 2004
What changed between 2004 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.
- +0 / −0countries joined / left
- 77values changed, of 175 in both
- 43 · 34rose · fell
- 98unchanged
Rose most
Fell most
Sri Lanka0.671 → 0.505−0.166
Iran0.345 → 0.230−0.115
China0.243 → 0.181−0.062
Tajikistan0.344 → 0.304−0.040
Côte d’Ivoire0.748 → 0.710−0.038
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.
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 2005.
152 distinct values among 175
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 4 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 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.
- .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-2005-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 (2005). Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2005 [data set], describing 2005. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-expression/2005
0636 held
Other years
‹ The year before
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2004175 countries
The year after ›
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2006175 countries
All of them
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index: every year36 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, 2005: questions and answers
Which country has the highest freedom of expression in Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2005?
Denmark, at 0.988, of the 175 countries in the file.
What year does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2005 describe?
2005.
How many countries does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2005 cover?
175.
Where can I download Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2005?
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, 2005 the newest?
No. The newest held here is Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2025.