The 2022 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders, was released this week. The report states that even “within democratic societies, divisions are growing.” Several countries were downgraded to the worst category in the index – very serious situation of the press – by Reporters Without Borders. They were Venezuela, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belarus, Russia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Oman. Greece slumped 5 spots to 70th in the index.

As our infographic shows, North Korea is rock bottom of the index, followed by Eritrea and Iran. Northern Europe has the highest levels of media freedom worldwide and Norway was ranked first. It is followed by Denmark and Sweden in the top 3 while the top 5 is rounded off by Estonia and Finland. Reporters Without Borders have compiled the index annually since 2002 and levels of press freedom are calculated through a range of indicators such as media independence, transparency, and the media environment in general.

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