Maldives Stays in ‘Difficult’ Category for Journalism
Media gathered for the press briefing at the President’s Office | Photo: The President’s Office
The latest World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) has revealed that the Maldives remains among the difficult countries in which to practise journalism, despite a slight improvement in its ranking.
The World Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of 180 nations, compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which assesses the level of freedom available to journalists and media personnel across the world.
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The Maldives ranked 104th in the 2025 index with a score of 52.46, moving up two places from last year’s 106th position, when it scored 52.63. However, the country continues to fall within the category of nations where practising journalism is most challenging.
In 2022, the Maldives was ranked 87th and was classified as having a satisfactory level of press freedom. This status changed in 2023 when the country dropped 13 places to 100th, and the downward trend continued in 2024 with a further decline to 106th.
Looking further back, the Maldives was ranked 120th in 2018 but saw notable improvements in subsequent years. In 2019, the country moved up to 98th, followed by a sharp climb of 19 places to 79th in 2020. The upward momentum continued in 2021 when the Maldives reached 72nd place, its highest position in recent years.
The 2025 index placed Norway at the top with a global score of 92.31, followed by Estonia with 89.46, the Netherlands with 88.46, Sweden with 88.13, and Finland with 87.18. At the bottom of the ranking were Eritrea with a score of 11.32, North Korea with 12.64, China with 14.84, Syria with 15.84, and Iran with 16.22.
