Report: 111 journalists killed worldwide in 2025, more than 500 remain imprisoned

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) published its 2025 report on Tuesday, saying 111 journalists were killed while covering events around the world throughout the year.

The document, which was published a day before Human Rights Day on 10 December, stated that the Middle East region was the most impacted with 69 deaths.

Of that number, 51 deaths were recorded in Gaza.

IFJ President Dominique Pradalié said: “Journalists’ killings and imprisonment are rising in 2025, and it is deeply shameful to see how little governments around the world are doing to protect them or uphold the basic principles of press freedom. Instead, we are witnessing direct targeting, blatant attempts to silence critical voices, and efforts to control the narrative on matters of public interest. These actions are all in clear violation of international law.

Nine media workers were killed in Africa in 2025. Once again, Sudan was the epicentre of journalist killings in the region, accounting for six of the deaths. Since the conflict in Sudan began on 15 April 2023, journalists reporting on the civil war have been specifically targeted by the warring factions, particularly by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Elsewhere, the IFJ also recorded one killing each in Mozambique, Somalia and Zimbabwe.

African journalists continued to be imprisoned on vague and fabricated charges. Twenty-seven journalists are still imprisoned in Africa. Eritrea (7) is the continent’s biggest jailer of journalists, some of whom have been behind bars for over a decade.

Many African countries continue to weaponise their national law by using it to silence journalists, according to IFJ.

Around the world, there are more than 500 journalists locked up in jails, according to the IFJ report.

The IFJ has recorded 10 killings in Europe this year: eight in Ukraine, one in Russia and one in Turkey.

It is the third time in the last ten years that Europe has recorded such a high number of journalists killed – first in 2015 with the Charlie Hebdo (satirical magazine) massacre in Paris, then in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This year, the war between Russia and Ukraine has been particularly deadly, with nine journalists killed.

The IFJ deplores the killing of 15 journalists in the Asia-Pacific region, including four in India, three in Pakistan, three in the Philippines, two in Bangladesh, plus two in Afghanistan and one in Nepal. Of particular note was the brutal murder of Indian journalist Mukesh Chandrakar on 1 January. He was beaten to death with an iron bar for his reporting and later found in a septic tank.

The Asia-Pacific region continues to imprison the largest number of journalists for their work: 277 are currently behind bars. With 143 journalists imprisoned, China (including Hong Kong) remains the world’s largest jail for media professionals. Myanmar follows this with 49 and Vietnam with 37.