The International Federation of Journalists has closed the year with a stark and sobering warning: 2025 was one of the most lethal years for media workers in more than a decade. By the time the IFJ published its final tally on 31 December, 128 journalists and media staff had been killed — a figure that includes 10 women and nine accidental deaths.
Behind the number sits a familiar pattern: journalists continue to be targeted, caught in conflict, or killed with impunity, while governments fail to provide even the most basic protections.
A rising toll as new cases emerge
The final count is significantly higher than the IFJ’s early December estimate. Seventeen additional deaths were confirmed in the final weeks of the year, pushing the total far beyond the 111 killings initially reported. These late‑verified cases came from Palestine, Tanzania, Peru, and Guatemala, alongside a series of fatal accidents involving media workers in Nigeria, Burundi, and Iran.
The updated list reinforces what many in the industry already feared: 2025 was not an outlier, but part of a worsening trend.
A decades‑long crisis
Since the IFJ began tracking journalist killings in 1990, the organisation has recorded 3,173 deaths — an average of 91 per year. Nearly 900 journalists have been killed in the past decade alone.
The Federation also released a separate list documenting 533 journalists currently imprisoned, with China once again identified as the world’s leading jailer of media professionals.
Conflict zones remain the deadliest places to report
For the third year running, the Middle East and Arab World was the most dangerous region for journalists. The IFJ recorded 74 deaths there in 2025 — 56 of them in Palestine — representing more than half of all media fatalities worldwide.
Other high‑risk countries included:
- Yemen: 13 deaths
- Ukraine: 8
- Sudan: 6
- India and Peru: 4 each
- Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Pakistan: 3 each
The concentration of killings in conflict‑affected nations highlights a grim reality: journalists are being targeted or placed in harm’s way precisely where their reporting is most essential.
“A global crisis,” warns IFJ
In a statement accompanying the report, IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger called the situation intolerable. He said the deaths represent far more than a statistic — they reflect a global failure to protect those who document the world’s most urgent stories.
Bellanger urged governments to take immediate action, insisting that the international community must finally adopt a UN convention dedicated to the safety and independence of journalists.