Data for 2024

Government Censorship of the Media, 2024

Name: Government Censorship of the Media, 2024
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2024, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Government Censorship of the Media, 2024 covers 176 countries. Belgium is highest, at 3.489; South Sudan is lowest, at -3.017. The middle country reads 0.539. Against 2023, 94 values changed (43 up, 51 down), the same countries are covered.

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Government Censorship of the Media · Data for 2024

HighestBelgium

3.489

LowestSouth Sudan

-3.017

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

176countries
1measure
2024the year it describes
175distinct 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, 2024, 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, 2024: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	3.489
2	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	3.258
3	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	3.201
4	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	3.187
5	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	3.043
6	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	3.037
7	Canada`CAN`Northern America	3.016
8	Brazil`BRA`South America	2.958
9	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	2.946
10	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	2.849
11	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	2.747
12	Chile`CHL`South America	2.651
13	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	2.644
14	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.595
15	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	2.506
16	United States`USA`Northern America	2.487
17	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	2.451
18	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	2.345
19	France`FRA`Western Europe	2.308
20	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	2.214
21	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	2.190
22	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	2.161
23	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	2.144
24	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	2.064
25	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	2.055
26	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	2.014
27	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	1.867
28	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	1.864
29	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	1.857
30	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	1.839
31	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	1.825
32	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	1.807
33	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	1.675
34	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	1.640
35	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	1.634
36	Honduras`HND`Central America	1.627
37	Suriname`SUR`South America	1.623
38	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	1.617
39	Colombia`COL`South America	1.562
40	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	1.561
41	Paraguay`PRY`South America	1.547
42	Uruguay`URY`South America	1.536
43	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	1.517
44	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	1.431
45	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	1.427
46	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	1.384
47	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1.371
48	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1.365
49	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	1.354
50	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	1.341
51	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	1.328
52	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	1.316
53	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	1.309
54	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	1.241
55	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1.228
56	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	1.187
57	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	1.177
58	Guyana`GUY`South America	1.153
59	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	1.152
60	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	1.123
61	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1.117
62	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	1.065
63	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	1.058
64	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	1.055
65	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	1.033
66	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	1.024
67	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	1.019
68	Argentina`ARG`South America	1.009
69	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.934
70	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.932
71	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.903
72	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.870
73	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.850
74	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.840
75	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.838
76	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.815
77	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.796
78	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.786
79	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.782
80	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.722
81	Peru`PER`South America	0.715
82	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.712
83	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.683
84	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.665
85	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.605
86	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.575
87	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.549
88	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.544
89	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.534
90	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.510
91	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.460
92	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.431
93	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.410
94	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.393
95	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.392
96	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.389
97	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.375
98	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.355
99	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.345
100	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.339
101	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.293
102	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.212
103	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.208
104	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.176
105	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.125
106	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.083
107	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.043
108	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	-0.013
109	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	-0.024
110	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	-0.065
111	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	-0.117
112	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	-0.127
113	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	-0.159
114	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	-0.166
115	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	-0.183
116	Mexico`MEX`Central America	-0.269
117	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	-0.294
118	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	-0.301
119	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	-0.307
120	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	-0.388
121	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	-0.420
122	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	-0.447
123	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	-0.468
124	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	-0.505
125	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	-0.510
126	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	-0.561
127	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	-0.579
128	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	-0.654
129	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	-0.740
130	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	-0.751
131	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	-0.762
132	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	-0.773
133	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	-0.880
134	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	-0.904
135	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	-0.935
136	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	-0.940
=137	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	-0.951
=137	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	-0.951
139	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	-0.982
140	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	-0.990
141	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	-1.022
142	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	-1.115
143	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	-1.200
144	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	-1.254
145	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	-1.328
146	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	-1.428
147	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	-1.435
148	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	-1.476
149	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	-1.483
150	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	-1.494
151	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	-1.501
152	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	-1.517
153	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	-1.693
154	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	-1.702
155	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	-1.715
156	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	-1.757
157	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	-1.784
158	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	-1.811
159	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	-1.874
160	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	-1.891
161	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	-1.938
162	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	-1.939
163	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	-1.995
164	Venezuela`VEN`South America	-2.041
165	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	-2.207
166	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	-2.222
167	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	-2.225
168	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	-2.273
169	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	-2.362
170	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	-2.425
171	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	-2.720
172	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	-2.775
173	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	-2.822
174	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	-2.954
175	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	-2.983
176	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	-3.017

02In 2024

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Belgium3.489
2Denmark3.258
3Estonia3.201
4Portugal3.187
5Luxembourg3.043

Lowest

176South Sudan-3.017
175Eritrea-2.983
174Myanmar-2.954
173Belarus-2.822
172North Korea-2.775

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.539. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032023 → 2024

Since 2023

What changed between 2023 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
94values changed, of 176 in both
43 · 51rose · fell
82unchanged

Rose most

Poland0.160 → 2.144+1.984
Guatemala-0.517 → 1.328+1.845
Cuba-2.049 → -0.773+1.276
Afghanistan-2.628 → -1.501+1.127
Chile1.600 → 2.651+1.051

Fell most

Kosovo1.879 → 0.355−1.524
Burundi-0.860 → -2.225−1.365
Comoros0.014 → -0.904−0.918
Slovenia1.112 → 0.212−0.900
Senegal1.247 → 0.392−0.855

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 2024.
175 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share -0.951. 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-2024-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 (2024). Government Censorship of the Media, 2024 [data set], describing 2024. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/media-censorship/2024

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Government Censorship of the Media, 2023
176 countries
The year after ›
Government Censorship of the Media, 2025
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