Data for 2016

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2016

Name: Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2016
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2016, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2016 covers 176 countries. Denmark is highest, at 0.985; North Korea is lowest, at 0.013. The middle country reads 0.771. Against 2015, 133 values changed (55 up, 78 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index · Data for 2016

HighestDenmark

0.985

LowestNorth Korea

0.013

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

176countries
1measure
2016the year it describes
159distinct 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, 2016, 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 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2016: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.985
=2	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.979
=2	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.979
4	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.978
5	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.977
6	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.975
7	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.974
8	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.973
=9	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.972
=9	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.972
11	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.970
12	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.966
13	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.961
=14	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.957
=14	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.957
=14	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.957
17	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.952
18	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.950
19	United States`USA`Northern America	0.948
20	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.947
21	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.944
22	Chile`CHL`South America	0.943
23	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.942
24	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.941
25	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.939
26	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.938
27	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.935
28	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.933
=29	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.931
=29	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.931
31	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.925
32	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.922
33	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.921
=34	Peru`PER`South America	0.920
=34	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.920
36	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.916
37	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.904
38	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.902
39	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.899
40	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.895
41	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.891
42	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.890
43	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.886
44	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.885
=45	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.883
=45	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.883
=47	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.880
=47	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.880
49	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.874
=50	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.869
=50	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.869
52	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.866
53	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.863
=54	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.860
=54	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.860
56	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.859
57	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.856
58	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.854
59	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.853
=60	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.849
=60	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.849
62	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.848
63	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.847
64	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.840
65	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.836
66	Colombia`COL`South America	0.832
67	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.830
68	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.828
69	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.823
70	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.822
71	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.818
72	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.816
73	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.815
74	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.809
=75	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.804
=75	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.804
77	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.796
78	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.795
79	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.794
80	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.793
81	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.787
82	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.782
83	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.781
84	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.780
85	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.776
86	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.774
87	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.772
88	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.771
89	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.770
90	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.763
91	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.760
92	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.759
93	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.744
94	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.742
95	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.739
96	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.735
97	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.729
98	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.722
99	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.721
100	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.706
101	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.705
=102	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.692
=102	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.692
104	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.691
105	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.690
=106	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.684
=106	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.684
108	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.678
109	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.677
110	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.671
=111	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.661
=111	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.661
113	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.660
114	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.654
115	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.653
116	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.651
117	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.638
118	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.627
119	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.620
120	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.617
=121	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.612
=121	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.612
123	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.592
124	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.589
125	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.587
126	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.579
127	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.573
128	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.568
129	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.564
130	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.563
131	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.521
132	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.508
133	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.493
134	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.472
135	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.454
136	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.429
137	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.417
138	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.383
139	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.373
140	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.371
141	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.345
142	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.343
143	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.331
144	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.319
145	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.315
=146	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.306
=146	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.306
148	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.276
149	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.266
150	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.239
151	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.218
152	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.215
153	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.200
154	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.199
155	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.196
156	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.182
157	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.180
158	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.169
159	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.159
160	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.158
161	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.156
162	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.146
163	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.129
164	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.120
165	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.108
166	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.095
167	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.093
168	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.092
169	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.090
170	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.059
171	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.049
172	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.033
173	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.026
174	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.024
175	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.016
176	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.013

02In 2016

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Denmark0.985
2Germanyshared0.979
2Norwayshared0.979
4Switzerland0.978
5Belgium0.977

Lowest

176North Korea0.013
175Eritrea0.016
174Laos0.024
173Turkmenistan0.026
172Syria0.033

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.771. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032015 → 2016

Since 2015

What changed between 2015 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
133values changed, of 176 in both
55 · 78rose · fell
43unchanged

Rose most

Sri Lanka0.692 → 0.815+0.123
Azerbaijan0.169 → 0.215+0.046
Myanmar0.551 → 0.592+0.041
North Macedonia0.536 → 0.564+0.028
Guyana0.830 → 0.856+0.026

Fell most

Poland0.951 → 0.722−0.229
Türkiye0.352 → 0.218−0.134
Brazil0.921 → 0.809−0.112
Philippines0.880 → 0.772−0.108
Burundi0.214 → 0.120−0.094

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 2016.
159 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.957. 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 176 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
176 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-2016-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 (2016). Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2016 [data set], describing 2016. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/freedom-of-expression/2016

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2015
176 countries
The year after ›
Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2017
176 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, 2016: questions and answers

Which country has the highest freedom of expression in Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2016?

Denmark, at 0.985, of the 176 countries in the file.

What year does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2016 describe?

2016.

How many countries does Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2016 cover?

176.

Where can I download Freedom of Expression and Alternative Sources of Information Index, 2016?

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, 2016 the newest?

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

This edition

The same ranking, cut differently

Behind the number

Browse

By continent

Much-read profiles

Every subject

The numbers

Reading the data