Data for 2021

Government Censorship of the Media, 2021

Name: Government Censorship of the Media, 2021
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2021, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Government Censorship of the Media, 2021 covers 176 countries. Belgium is highest, at 3.489; South Sudan is lowest, at -3.017. The middle country reads 0.529. Against 2020, 103 values changed (48 up, 55 down), the same countries are covered.

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Government Censorship of the Media · Data for 2021

HighestBelgium

3.489

LowestSouth Sudan

-3.017

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

176countries
1measure
2021the year it describes
173distinct 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, 2021, 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

Government Censorship of the Media, 2021: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	3.489
2	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	3.378
3	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	3.270
4	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	3.258
5	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	3.201
6	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	3.173
7	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	3.043
8	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	3.037
9	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	2.887
10	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	2.859
11	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	2.849
12	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	2.760
13	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	2.618
14	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.595
15	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	2.506
16	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	2.425
17	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	2.392
18	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	2.371
19	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	2.282
20	Canada`CAN`Northern America	2.274
21	Uruguay`URY`South America	2.270
22	United States`USA`Northern America	2.239
=23	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	2.223
=23	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	2.223
25	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.222
26	France`FRA`Western Europe	2.184
27	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	2.161
28	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	2.091
29	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	2.064
30	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	2.055
31	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	2.035
32	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	1.988
33	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	1.961
34	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	1.958
35	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.948
36	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	1.839
37	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	1.827
38	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	1.806
39	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	1.745
40	Ecuador`ECU`South America	1.692
41	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	1.680
42	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	1.662
43	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	1.647
44	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	1.638
45	Peru`PER`South America	1.578
46	Paraguay`PRY`South America	1.547
47	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	1.494
48	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	1.467
49	Argentina`ARG`South America	1.458
50	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	1.445
51	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	1.399
52	Chile`CHL`South America	1.398
53	Suriname`SUR`South America	1.395
54	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1.387
55	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	1.384
56	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	1.366
57	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	1.357
58	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	1.334
59	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	1.264
60	Colombia`COL`South America	1.263
61	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	1.262
62	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	1.249
63	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	1.242
64	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	1.230
65	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	1.214
66	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	1.170
67	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1.145
68	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	1.141
69	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	1.065
70	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	1.056
71	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1.041
72	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	1.028
73	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.024
74	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1.011
75	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	1.010
76	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.966
77	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.917
78	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.894
79	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.873
80	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.838
81	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.817
82	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.733
83	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.700
84	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.659
85	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.615
86	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.612
87	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.575
88	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.544
89	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.514
90	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.511
91	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.506
92	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.496
93	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.477
94	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.466
95	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.460
96	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.409
97	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.374
98	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.362
99	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.345
100	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.294
101	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.273
102	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.148
103	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.140
=104	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.096
=104	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.096
106	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.085
107	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.080
108	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.067
109	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.065
110	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.014
111	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	-0.002
112	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-0.022
113	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-0.037
114	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	-0.042
115	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-0.070
116	Mexico`MEX`Central America	-0.082
117	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	-0.110
118	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	-0.111
119	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-0.205
120	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	-0.214
121	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	-0.215
122	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	-0.267
123	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-0.315
124	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	-0.321
125	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-0.355
126	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-0.374
127	India`IND`Southern Asia	-0.487
128	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	-0.488
129	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	-0.515
130	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	-0.531
131	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	-0.579
132	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-0.660
133	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-0.696
134	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-0.775
135	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-0.990
136	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-1.022
137	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-1.030
138	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	-1.063
139	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	-1.152
140	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	-1.228
141	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-1.278
142	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-1.362
143	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.376
144	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	-1.405
145	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-1.428
146	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	-1.442
147	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-1.483
148	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-1.487
149	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-1.506
150	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	-1.509
151	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-1.563
=152	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	-1.693
=152	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	-1.693
154	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-1.702
155	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	-1.715
156	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-1.784
157	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	-1.807
158	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-1.811
159	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-1.827
160	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-1.841
161	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-1.890
162	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-1.938
163	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	-1.939
164	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	-1.953
165	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	-1.971
166	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-1.977
167	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-2.049
168	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	-2.207
169	Venezuela`VEN`South America	-2.598
170	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-2.720
171	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	-2.775
172	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	-2.822
173	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-2.884
174	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-2.954
175	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	-2.981
176	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	-3.017

02In 2021

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Belgium3.489
2Sweden3.378
3Portugal3.270
4Denmark3.258
5Estonia3.201

Lowest

176South Sudan-3.017
175Syria-2.981
174Myanmar-2.954
173Eritrea-2.884
172Belarus-2.822

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.529. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032020 → 2021

Since 2020

What changed between 2020 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
103values changed, of 176 in both
48 · 55rose · fell
73unchanged

Rose most

Zambia-1.124 → -0.002+1.122
Bulgaria0.723 → 1.662+0.939
Tajikistan-2.368 → -1.506+0.862
Malawi0.552 → 1.366+0.814
Timor-Leste0.198 → 1.010+0.812

Fell most

Myanmar1.024 → -2.954−3.978
Afghanistan0.831 → -1.890−2.721
Ethiopia1.600 → -0.355−1.955
Guatemala1.127 → -0.215−1.342
Finland2.939 → 1.680−1.259

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 2021.
173 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 2.223. 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 media-censorship-2021-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 (2021). Government Censorship of the Media, 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/media-censorship/2021

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Government Censorship of the Media, 2020
176 countries
The year after ›
Government Censorship of the Media, 2022
176 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