World Press Freedom Index 2026 released on 30 April 2026

Key facts

• Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), also known as Reporters Without Borders, is a Paris-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) that publishes the annual World Press Freedom Index.
• The first World Press Freedom Index was produced by RSF in 2002, and the 2026 report notes that global press freedom has fallen to its lowest level in 25 years.
• Norway, the Netherlands, and Estonia are the top three of only seven countries to achieve a good rating in the 2026 index, which evaluates 180 nations.
• India is ranked 157th in the index, which also lists Egypt (169th), Georgia (135th), Turkiye (163rd), and Hong Kong (140th) as examples of state-imposed crackdowns.
• Russia (172nd) and Iran (177th) are ranked in the bottom ten, while other rankings include France at 25th, the United States at 64th, Argentina at 98th, Israel at 116th, and El Salvador at 143rd.