About 45 percent of the world's population live in countries where the media environment is not free. Only 13 percent of the population enjoys a free press, living in an environment where coverage of political news is robust, the safety of journalists is guaranteed, state intrusion in media affairs is minimal, and the press is not subject to onerous legal or economic pressures, the report says.
On a scale of one to 100 points, where one represents the greatest and 100 the smallest freedom of the press, the best results were scored by Norway (eight points), Sweden and the Netherlands (both 11). Of the 14 highest ranking countries, 13 are in Europe.
The 10 worst rated countries and territories are Azerbaijan, Crimea, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The worst rated country in Europe is Macedonia.
Croatia scored 41 points, one less than last year, reflecting an increase in press freedom. However, the media environment in Croatia is still categorised as partly free, alongside countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Poland, Ukraine, Greece, India, Italy and Israel.
Croatia received the best rating for the legal environment, 9 out of 30 points, while scoring 17 out of 40 points for the political environment and 15 out of 30 points for the economic environment.
The largest declines in freedom of the press in 2016 were recorded in Poland, Turkey, Burundi, Bolivia, Serbia and Hungary. Among large countries where the press is not free are Russia, China, Mexico, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.