Data for 1990

Government Censorship of the Media, 1990

Name: Government Censorship of the Media, 1990
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1990, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Government Censorship of the Media, 1990 covers 168 countries. Belgium is highest, at 3.489; Syria is lowest, at -3.045. The middle country reads 0.080.

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Government Censorship of the Media · Data for 1990

HighestBelgium

3.489

LowestSyria

-3.045

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

168countries
1measure
1990the year it describes
166distinct 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 Government Censorship of the Media, 1990, 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 168 countries · select a heading to sort

Government Censorship of the Media, 1990: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	3.489
2	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	3.380
3	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	3.378
4	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	3.355
5	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	3.258
6	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	3.255
7	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	3.254
8	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	3.043
9	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	2.916
10	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.749
11	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	2.610
12	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.601
13	United States`USA`Northern America	2.574
14	Canada`CAN`Northern America	2.573
15	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	2.487
16	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	2.401
17	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	2.379
18	Chile`CHL`South America	2.313
19	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.311
20	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	2.299
21	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	2.296
22	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	2.295
23	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	2.248
24	France`FRA`Western Europe	2.241
25	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	2.136
26	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	2.111
27	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.109
28	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	2.080
29	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	2.077
30	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	2.052
31	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	2.032
32	Argentina`ARG`South America	2.009
33	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	1.840
34	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	1.829
35	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	1.773
36	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.772
37	India`IND`Southern Asia	1.763
38	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	1.726
39	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	1.719
40	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	1.695
41	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	1.656
42	Panama`PAN`Central America	1.655
43	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	1.647
44	Suriname`SUR`South America	1.558
45	Colombia`COL`South America	1.531
46	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	1.462
47	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	1.420
48	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.387
49	Venezuela`VEN`South America	1.375
50	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	1.365
51	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	1.333
52	Brazil`BRA`South America	1.285
53	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1.195
54	Uruguay`URY`South America	1.117
55	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.111
56	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1.065
57	Bolivia`BOL`South America	1.059
58	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	1.038
59	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	1.017
60	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1.001
61	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.889
62	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.850
63	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.713
64	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.668
65	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.588
66	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.584
67	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.526
68	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.503
69	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.480
70	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.469
71	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.459
72	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.423
73	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.387
74	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.369
75	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.311
76	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.273
77	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.257
78	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.241
79	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.231
80	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.212
81	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.209
82	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.152
83	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.102
84	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.083
85	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.077
86	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.071
87	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.064
88	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.028
89	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.004
90	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	-0.052
=91	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	-0.068
=91	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	-0.068
93	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	-0.086
94	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	-0.088
95	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	-0.149
96	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	-0.184
=97	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	-0.247
=97	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	-0.247
99	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	-0.274
100	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	-0.276
101	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-0.348
102	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-0.366
103	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	-0.383
104	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	-0.462
105	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	-0.479
106	Guyana`GUY`South America	-0.530
107	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-0.541
108	Peru`PER`South America	-0.546
109	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	-0.587
110	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-0.683
111	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-0.689
112	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	-0.708
113	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-0.841
114	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	-0.853
115	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-0.891
116	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-0.918
117	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-0.930
118	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	-0.932
119	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	-0.948
120	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-0.973
121	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	-1.027
122	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	-1.068
123	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	-1.087
124	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	-1.117
125	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	-1.166
126	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-1.202
127	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-1.203
128	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	-1.231
129	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	-1.266
130	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	-1.270
131	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	-1.283
132	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-1.337
133	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	-1.379
134	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	-1.427
135	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-1.439
136	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-1.449
137	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-1.464
138	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	-1.529
139	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	-1.580
140	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-1.581
141	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	-1.586
142	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	-1.592
143	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	-1.597
144	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-1.672
145	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	-1.674
146	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	-1.708
147	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-1.715
148	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-1.788
149	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.820
150	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-1.949
151	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	-2.003
152	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-2.081
153	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	-2.093
154	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	-2.227
155	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-2.254
156	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-2.256
157	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-2.326
158	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-2.362
159	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-2.403
160	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-2.474
161	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-2.489
162	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-2.521
163	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	-2.560
164	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-2.571
165	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	-2.730
166	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	-2.775
167	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-2.799
168	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	-3.045

02In 1990

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Belgium3.489
2Germany3.380
3Sweden3.378
4Australia3.355
5Denmark3.258

Lowest

168Syria-3.045
167Albania-2.799
166North Korea-2.775
165Malawi-2.730
164Angola-2.571

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.080. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

03Caveats

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 1990.
166 distinct values among 168
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share -0.068. 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 168 countries has every column.

04The 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
168 rows · 4.6 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download media-censorship-1990-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 (1990). Government Censorship of the Media, 1990 [data set], describing 1990. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/media-censorship/1990

0536 held

Other years

‹ The year before
This is the first year held here.
The year after ›
Government Censorship of the Media, 1991
171 countries
All of them
Government Censorship of the Media: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

06Questions