Reporters Without Borders has released its 2026 World Press Freedom Index.
It ranks 180 countries and territories by journalists’ ability to do their jobs.
Australia dropped four places in this year’s ranking.
The overall global average score has hit the lowest level on record.
Context
Reporters Without Borders (aka Reporters Sans Frontières or RSF) is a Paris-based non-profit that advocates for press freedom worldwide.
Every year, it surveys 180 countries and scores them across five areas: the political, legal, economic, social and security environments for journalists.
Countries are given a score out of 100, putting them on a scale of “good” to “very serious”.
The numbers
This year marks the 25th edition of the Index.
More than 50% of countries are now classified as “difficult” or “very serious” for press freedom.
Fewer than 1% of people worldwide live in a country classified as having “good” press freedom.
Back in 2002, 13.7% of countries had a “difficult” or “very serious” environment, and 20% of people lived in a country with “good” freedoms.
Australia
Australia has fallen four places to 33rd in the 2026 Index.
RSF flags media concentration as a key concern, with three private groups dominating ownership, and close ties between media owners and political leaders raising questions about editorial independence.
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Press freedom is also not explicitly guaranteed in Australia’s Constitution, though it has historically been protected to some degree by High Court decisions.
International
The U.S. has dropped to a historic low in the rankings (#64), with RSF pointing to President Donald Trump’s “systematic” attacks on the press, police arresting reporters, and the consolidation of media companies.
Norway scored the highest in the 2026 index, followed by the Netherlands (#2) and Estonia (#3). Norway has topped the ranking for 10 consecutive years.
Eritrea ranked last for the third year running, with a score of 10.2. Local journalist Dawit Isaak has been imprisoned since 2001 without trial. North Korea (179) and China (178) rounded out the bottom three.
Syria recorded the biggest improvement after rebels ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, though press freedom remains rated "very serious."
War
RSF partly attributes the overall lower scores to several ongoing conflicts across the world.
According to RSF, the Israeli military has killed more than 220 journalists in Palestine since October 2023, including at least 70 killed while working.
Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, and Iraq have also seen press freedom decline during conflict.
Eastern Europe and the Middle East were ranked as the two most dangerous regions for journalists in the world.
Criminalisation
The legal indicator dropped the most this year, worsening in 110 of 180 countries.
The RSF describes the criminalisation of journalism as “one of the most serious threats to democracies worldwide.”
It says governments are increasingly weaponising criminal charges and legal proceedings against journalists, rather than using overt censorship or physical violence.
