Press freedom in Finland
Finland: Press freedom was 2 in 2016. ▲ Rising
Press freedom in Finland, 1979–2016
Source: Freedom House (2017) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
Finland recorded 2 for press freedom in 2016. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.
That represents a change of unchanged over ten years.
Over the whole period, press freedom in Finland peaked at 2 in 1988 and was at its lowest, 1, in 1979.
That places Finland 1st out of 194 countries with data for 2016, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1980s | 1.12 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 1990s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2000s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 2010s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
Countries ranked near Finland
- 1 Andorra 2 compare
- 1 Australia 2 compare
- 1 Austria 2 compare
- 1 Bahamas 2 compare
- 1 Barbados 2 compare
- 1 Belgium 2 compare
- 1 Belize 2 compare
- 1 Canada 2 compare
- 1 Cape Verde 2 compare
- 1 Chile 2 compare
- 1 Costa Rica 2 compare
- 1 Cyprus 2 compare
- 1 Czechia 2 compare
- 1 Denmark 2 compare
- 1 Dominica 2 compare
- 1 Estonia 2 compare
- 1 France 2 compare
- 1 Germany 2 compare
- 1 Grenada 2 compare
- 1 Iceland 2 compare
- 1 Ireland 2 compare
- 1 Jamaica 2 compare
- 1 Japan 2 compare
- 1 Kiribati 2 compare
- 1 Latvia 2 compare
- 1 Liechtenstein 2 compare
- 1 Lithuania 2 compare
- 1 Luxembourg 2 compare
- 1 Malta 2 compare
- 1 Marshall Islands 2 compare
- 1 Mauritius 2 compare
- 1 Monaco 2 compare
- 1 Netherlands 2 compare
- 1 New Zealand 2 compare
- 1 Norway 2 compare
- 1 Palau 2 compare
- 1 Papua New Guinea 2 compare
- 1 Portugal 2 compare
- 1 Saint Kitts and Nevis 2 compare
- 1 Saint Lucia 2 compare
- 1 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2 compare
- 1 Samoa 2 compare
- 1 San Marino 2 compare
- 1 Sao Tome and Principe 2 compare
- 1 Slovakia 2 compare
- 1 Slovenia 2 compare
- 1 Solomon Islands 2 compare
- 1 Spain 2 compare
- 1 Suriname 2 compare
- 1 Sweden 2 compare
- 1 Switzerland 2 compare
- 1 Taiwan 2 compare
- 1 Tonga 2 compare
- 1 Trinidad and Tobago 2 compare
- 1 Tuvalu 2 compare
- 1 United Kingdom 2 compare
- 1 United States 2 compare
- 1 Uruguay 2 compare
- 1 Vanuatu 2 compare
More social development data for Finland
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 102,544 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 5 (2025)
- Physical Integrity Rights Score 2.5 (2019)
- Asylum-seekers by country or territory of origin 15 (2025)
- Asylum-seekers by country or territory of asylum 1,879 (2025)
- Forcibly displaced people 104,423 (2025)
- Self-reported life satisfaction 7.76 (2025)
- Share of people agreeing with the statement "most people can be trusted" 68.4% (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is press freedom in Finland?
- Press freedom in Finland was 2 in 2016, according to Freedom House (2017) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest press freedom recorded in Finland?
- The highest recorded value was 2 in 1988.
- What is the lowest press freedom recorded in Finland?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 in 1979.
- How does Finland rank for press freedom?
- Finland ranks 1st out of 194 countries with data for 2016.
- Is press freedom rising or falling in Finland?
- Over the last ten years it is unchanged. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Finland data come from?
- The figures come from Freedom House (2017) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Press freedom. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 36 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Based on the classification and data by Freedom House. It captures the legal, political, and economic environment of the press.