Data for 1994

Government Censorship of the Media, 1994

Name: Government Censorship of the Media, 1994
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1994, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Government Censorship of the Media, 1994 covers 173 countries. Belgium is highest, at 3.489; Syria is lowest, at -3.045. The middle country reads 0.526. Against 1993, 30 values changed (17 up, 13 down), the same countries are covered.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

Government Censorship of the Media · Data for 1994

HighestBelgium

3.489

LowestSyria

-3.045

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

173countries
1measure
1994the year it describes
172distinct 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, 1994, 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 173 countries · select a heading to sort

Government Censorship of the Media, 1994: 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	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	3.173
9	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	3.043
10	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	2.916
11	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	2.858
12	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.749
13	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	2.649
14	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2.634
15	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	2.610
16	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	2.601
17	United States`USA`Northern America	2.595
18	Chile`CHL`South America	2.576
19	Canada`CAN`Northern America	2.573
20	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	2.487
21	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	2.404
22	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	2.401
23	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	2.311
24	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	2.306
25	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	2.299
26	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	2.295
27	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	2.248
28	France`FRA`Western Europe	2.241
29	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	2.152
30	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	2.136
31	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	2.111
32	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.109
33	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	2.089
34	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	2.077
35	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	2.055
36	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	2.052
37	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	2.032
38	Argentina`ARG`South America	2.009
39	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	1.998
40	Suriname`SUR`South America	1.936
41	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	1.901
42	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	1.898
43	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	1.894
44	Brazil`BRA`South America	1.808
45	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.772
46	India`IND`Southern Asia	1.763
47	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	1.726
48	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.714
49	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	1.695
50	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	1.656
51	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	1.614
52	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	1.545
53	Colombia`COL`South America	1.531
54	Panama`PAN`Central America	1.529
55	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	1.494
56	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	1.467
57	Venezuela`VEN`South America	1.368
58	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	1.365
59	Uruguay`URY`South America	1.351
60	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	1.333
61	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	1.195
62	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.111
63	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1.065
64	Bolivia`BOL`South America	1.059
65	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	1.043
66	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	1.017
67	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1.001
68	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.984
69	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.937
70	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.919
71	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.858
72	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.850
=73	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.829
=73	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.829
75	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.788
76	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.769
77	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.764
78	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.719
79	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.642
80	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.635
81	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.585
82	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.571
83	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.555
84	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.544
85	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.537
86	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.536
87	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.526
88	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.514
89	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.513
90	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.503
91	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.469
92	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.459
93	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.451
94	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.422
95	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.406
96	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.387
97	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.357
98	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.346
99	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.303
100	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.257
101	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.209
102	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.181
103	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.147
104	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.131
105	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.072
106	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.071
107	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.028
108	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.004
109	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-0.002
110	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	-0.010
111	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	-0.013
112	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-0.032
113	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	-0.072
114	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	-0.085
115	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-0.116
116	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-0.123
117	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	-0.186
118	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	-0.236
119	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	-0.268
120	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	-0.276
121	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	-0.379
122	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-0.401
123	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	-0.411
124	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	-0.414
125	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	-0.429
126	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	-0.479
127	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-0.526
128	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-0.583
129	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	-0.636
130	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-0.665
131	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	-0.674
132	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-0.689
133	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	-0.708
134	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-0.841
135	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	-0.858
136	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-0.933
137	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-0.964
138	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-0.973
139	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	-1.027
140	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	-1.068
141	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-1.123
142	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	-1.142
143	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	-1.166
144	Guyana`GUY`South America	-1.181
145	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-1.198
146	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.237
147	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-1.300
148	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-1.324
149	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-1.464
150	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	-1.586
151	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-1.654
152	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	-1.674
153	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-1.715
154	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	-1.758
155	Peru`PER`South America	-1.764
156	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	-1.781
157	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-1.819
158	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	-1.852
159	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-1.879
160	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	-1.927
161	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-1.949
162	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	-2.003
163	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-2.081
164	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	-2.093
165	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-2.141
166	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	-2.227
167	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-2.232
168	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-2.254
169	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-2.256
170	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-2.362
171	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	-2.521
172	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	-2.775
173	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	-3.045

02In 1994

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

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

Lowest

173Syria-3.045
172North Korea-2.775
171Libya-2.521
170Saudi Arabia-2.362
169Cuba-2.256

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.526. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031993 → 1994

Since 1993

What changed between 1993 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
30values changed, of 173 in both
17 · 13rose · fell
143unchanged

Rose most

Malawi-2.730 → 0.406+3.136
South Africa0.141 → 1.545+1.404
United Arab Emirates-2.560 → -1.852+0.708
Mozambique0.025 → 0.642+0.617
Côte d’Ivoire0.250 → 0.829+0.579

Fell most

Gambia0.588 → -0.858−1.446
Tajikistan-0.949 → -1.654−0.705
Moldova0.740 → 0.072−0.668
Azerbaijan-0.593 → -1.123−0.530
Rwanda-1.406 → -1.927−0.521

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 1994.
172 distinct values among 173
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 0.829. 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 173 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
173 rows · 4.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download media-censorship-1994-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 (1994). Government Censorship of the Media, 1994 [data set], describing 1994. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/media-censorship/1994

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Government Censorship of the Media, 1993
173 countries
The year after ›
Government Censorship of the Media, 1995
173 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

07Questions