World Press Freedom Index 2021: Nigeria drops 5 points to rank 120 out of 180 Countries
The world Press Freedom Index for 2021 has been released with Nigeria slipping five places to rank number 120 out of 180 countries ranked. Nigeria had ranked number 115 in 2020 but various factors within the country has led to the nation losing five places.
The Scandinavian countries of Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark occupies the top five slots, ahead of Germany (ranked 13), Canada (ranked 14), the UK (ranked 33), France (ranked 34) America (ranked 44) and Japan (ranked 67).
Namibia ranked number 24 is the highest ranking African Country in the 2021 index. It is closedly followed by Cape Verde (27), Ghana (30), South Africa (32), Burkina Faso (37) and Botswana (38).
The five countries at the bottom of he 2021 index are Djibouti (176), China (177), Turkmenistan (178), North Korea (179) and Eritrea (180).
The Index is compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders (RFS). Reporters Without Borders (French: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as founded on the belief that everyone requires access to the news and information, in line with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that recognizes the right to receive and share information regardless of frontiers, along with other international rights charters. RSF has consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie
WHAT DOES IT MEASURE?
The Index ranks 180 countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists. It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country and region. It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking. Nor is it an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country or region.
THE GLOBAL INDICATOR AND REGIONAL INDICATORS
Along with the Index, RSF calculates a global indicator and regional indicators that evaluate the overall performance of countries and regions (in the world and in each region) as regards media freedom. It is an absolute measure that complements the Index’s comparative rankings. The global indicator is the average of the regional indicators, each of which is obtained by averaging the scores of all the countries in the region, weighted according to their population as given by the World Bank.
HOW THE INDEX IS COMPILED
The degree of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries and regions is determined by pooling the responses of experts to a questionnaire devised by RSF. This qualitative analysis is combined with quantitative data on abuses and acts of violence against journalists during the period evaluated. The criteria used in the questionnaire are pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.
World Press Freedom Index 2021 – Top 20 Countries
| Ranking | Countries & regions | Abuse score | Underlying situation score | Global score | Diff. score 2020 | Diff. Position 2020 |
| 1 | Norway | 0 | 6.72 | 6.72 | -1.12 | 0 |
| 2 | Finland | 0 | 6.99 | 6.99 | -0.94 | 0 |
| 3 | Sweden | 0 | 7.24 | 7.24 | -2.01 | 1 |
| 4 | Denmark | 0 | 8.57 | 8.57 | 0.44 | -1 |
| 5 | Costa Rica | 10.99 | 8.21 | 8.76 | -1.77 | 2 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 13.86 | 8.74 | 9.67 | -0.29 | -1 |
| 7 | Jamaica | 0 | 9.96 | 9.96 | -0.55 | -1 |
| 8 | New Zealand | 0 | 10.04 | 10.04 | -0.65 | 1 |
| 9 | Portugal | 0 | 10.11 | 10.11 | -1.72 | 1 |
| 10 | Switzerland | 6.93 | 10.55 | 10.55 | -0.07 | -2 |
| 11 | Belgium | 6.93 | 11.69 | 11.69 | -0.88 | 1 |
| 12 | Ireland | 0 | 11.91 | 11.91 | -0.69 | 1 |
| 13 | Germany | 43.31 | 8.25 | 15.24 | 3.08 | -2 |
| 14 | Canada | 0 | 15.25 | 15.25 | -0.04 | 2 |
| 15 | Estonia | 0 | 15.25 | 15.25 | 2.64 | -1 |
| 16 | Iceland | 0 | 15.37 | 15.37 | 0.25 | -1 |
| 17 | Austria | 10.99 | 16.34 | 16.34 | 0.56 | 1 |
| 18 | Uruguay | 0 | 16.38 | 16.38 | 0.59 | 1 |
| 19 | Suriname | 0 | 16.95 | 16.95 | -0.55 | 1 |
| 20 | Luxembourg | 0 | 17.56 | 17.56 | 2.10 | -3 |
World Press Freedom Index 2021 – Bottom 20 Countries
| Ranking | Countries & regions | Abuse score | Underlying situation score | Global score | Diff. score 2020 | Diff. Position 2020 |
| 161 | Somalia | 45.43 | 55.47 | 55.47 | 0.02 | 2 |
| 162 | Tajikistan | 47.36 | 55.52 | 55.52 | 0.18 | -1 |
| 163 | Iraq | 64.71 | 53.57 | 55.57 | 0.20 | -1 |
| 164 | Equatorial Guinea | 0 | 55.67 | 55.67 | -0.71 | 1 |
| 165 | Libya | 46.05 | 55.73 | 55.73 | -0.04 | -1 |
| 166 | Egypt | 64.13 | 54.67 | 56.17 | -0.65 | 0 |
| 167 | Azerbaijan | 50.24 | 58.77 | 58.77 | 0.29 | 1 |
| 168 | Bahrain | 64.91 | 60.11 | 61.10 | 0.97 | 1 |
| 169 | Yemen | 53.33 | 62.35 | 62.35 | 4.10 | -2 |
| 170 | Saudi Arabia | 71.07 | 61.15 | 62.73 | 0.59 | 0 |
| 171 | Cuba | 0 | 63.93 | 63.94 | 0.13 | 0 |
| 172 | Laos | 57.53 | 70.56 | 70.56 | 6.28 | 0 |
| 173 | Syria | 82.59 | 68.11 | 70.63 | -1.94 | 1 |
| 174 | Iran | 67.39 | 70.11 | 72.70 | 7.89 | -1 |
| 175 | Vietnam | 68.04 | 75.18 | 78.46 | 3.75 | 0 |
| 176 | Djibouti | 10.99 | 78.62 | 78.62 | 1.89 | 0 |
| 177 | China | 81.77 | 78.10 | 78.72 | 0.24 | 0 |
| 178 | Turkmenistan | 0 | 80.03 | 80.03 | -5.41 | 1 |
| 179 | North Korea | 51.93 | 81.28 | 81.28 | -4.54 | 1 |
| 180 | Eritrea | 73.05 | 82.05 | 81.45 | -2.05 | -2 |
To get the full list of rankings for 2021 click here
