BERLIN (May 3): Press freedom is worse than ever worldwide, according to the latest global ranking issued on Friday by Reporters Without Borders, which noted reporting is most free in Europe, German news agency dpa reported.

"The global press freedom situation in 2025 is at an all-time low," the organisation said in its analysis. "More than half of the world's population lives in countries with a 'very serious' situation."

Europe continues to be the region of the world where journalists can report most freely, the rights group said.

Norway remains the leader and role model in the global ranking, followed by Estonia and the Netherlands.

At the bottom of the scale are China, North Korea and Eritrea, in places 178 to 180, the list showed.

The situation was only rated "good" in seven countries, all of which are in Europe. "In addition to a fragile security situation and increasing authoritarianism, economic pressure in particular is causing problems for the media worldwide," Reporters Without Borders said.

Germany, which was in 10th place last year, is no longer in the top 10 in the ranking, due to the "increasingly hostile working environment for media professionals in Germany, particularly due to attacks from the far right", the group said. 

In 2024, journalists who dealt with right-wing extremist milieus and parties such as the Alternative for Germany were again at risk, reporting threats, insults and fear of physical violence.

In editorial terms too, Germany came in for criticism, with the report pointing to "numerous documented cases in which media professionals have reported disproportionately high hurdles when reporting on the Middle East conflict".

Furthermore, the economic situation for media organisations has also deteriorated noticeably in Germany, the report said.

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