More than half of the world’s population is now facing a crisis in freedom of expression. According to the Global Expression Report 2024, freedom of expression in Sub-Saharan Africa remains stagnant.
More than half of the world’s population is now facing a crisis in freedom of expression.
Regardless of whether the period is the last year, the past five years, or the last decade, the number of people experiencing declines in freedom of expression far exceeds those witnessing advancements.
In the last year, 451 million people across 10 countries experienced a deterioration of their freedom of expression; only 335 million people across 5 countries saw improvement. The largest decline over the last year took place in Burkina Faso (-24 points), followed by Mongolia (-10 points) and Senegal (-9 points).
Every other region has seen a significant drop in expression over the last 10 years, but there has been no significant change in Sub-Saharan Africa over that timeframe.
Despite freedom of expression remaining stagnant on a regional level, and on a country level, the declines in Sub-Saharan Africa are outpacing the advances.
In the last year, 216 million people across 4 countries experienced a deterioration of their freedom of expression; no countries saw improvement. The largest decline in the region took place in Burkina Faso (-24 points). This was also the largest decline globally.
In the last 5 years, 329 million people across 14 countries experienced a deterioration of their freedom of expression, while only 119 million people across 4 countries saw improvement.
Below are the top 10 African countries with the highest freedom of expression in 2024:
| Rank | Country | Freedom measure |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Botswana |
76 |
|
2 |
Ghana |
75 |
|
3 |
The Gambia |
74 |
|
4 |
South Africa |
73 |
|
5 |
Namibia |
72 |
|
6 |
Zambia |
72 |
|
7 |
Sierra Leone |
70 |
|
8 |
Liberia |
69 |
|
9 |
Kenya |
67 |
|
10 |
Malawi |
67 |
