BRUSSELS (EFE).— A total of 128 journalists, including 11 women, died in 2025 in relation to their work, which was the second highest figure in the last decade.
Almost half of the deaths, 44%, occurred in the Gaza Strip.
Yesterday the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) published its 35th annual report on murdered journalists and media workers in relation to its informative work in 2025.
According to that report, data from last year confirms that the murder of journalists has become “an accepted tool of war, repression and control of information.”
Deaths in war
2025 was the second deadliest year of the last decade and reaffirmed a change in trend that began in 2023, with the beginning of the war in Gaza:
If I enter 2016 y 2022 the annual number of journalists murdered did not exceed a hundred (and in some years he did not reach 50), In 2023, 129 deceased professionals were quantified, in 2024 it dropped to 122 and In 2025 it rose to 128, 11 of them being women.
Precisely, almost half of the deaths registered by the FIP in 2025 were documented within the Gaza Strip (56 journalists, 44)the majority of those victims were of Palestinian origin.
The Middle East region and the Arab world accounted for 58% of the deaths of journalists globally.
However, media workers have also been killed elsewhere: 18 journalists in Africa, 15 in the Asia-Pacific region, 11 in America and 10 in Europe.
Eight of the 10 deaths documented in Europe occurred in Ukraine, “mainly as a result of Russian drone strikes.” The other two were in Russia and Türkiye.
Of the 128 deaths, nine of which occurred for accidental reasons: seven in Nigeria, one in Burundi and one in Iran.
This includes transportation accidents during a work trip, deaths from natural disasters while covering climate events, or deaths from contracting fatal diseases or pandemic-related deaths while performing reporting work.
The FIP has also published in its report the list of 533 imprisoned journalists. In this, China appears as the country with the highest number of journalists in prison (143 professionals), followed by Burma (49) and Israel (41).
By region, the majority of imprisonments occurred in Asia-Pacific (277), more than half in Chinese territory, followed by the European continent (149), where the number of imprisoned journalists has increased by almost 40% compared to last year, mainly in Azerbaijan and Russia, which represents a record since 2018.
Next, The Middle East region saw 74 journalists behind bars, most in Israel.
According to the IFJ, governments in the region “have multiplied measures aimed at repressing press freedom, sowing fear among critical voices.”
Besides, 27 journalists remain imprisoned in Africa, often on false accusations, and most of them are in Eritrea, with some journalists detained for more than a decade.
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