2025 deadliest year ,161 media workers killed in 31 countries
Geneva, 18 December 2025 (PEC) 2025 was the deadliest year for journalists since the beginning of the century, after 2024. According to the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) tally, 161 media workers were killed in 31 countries (179 in 2024).
By region, the Middle East leads with 87 deaths, ahead of Latin America with 25, Asia with 22, Africa with 15, Europe with 10 and the United States with 2. Two-thirds of the victims recorded in 2025 were killed in an area of armed conflict (108).
Unprecedented ban in Gaza
At least 60 journalists were killed in the Gaza Strip, almost all of them victims of Israeli strikes. Since the start of hostilities triggered by Hamas on 7 October 2023, at least 221 Palestinian media workers have been killed in Gaza (81 in 2023, 80 in 2024, 60 in 2025).
“This conflict has been the deadliest for the media since the Second World War in just over two years. We call on Israel to conduct thorough investigations into the conduct of hostilities in order to identify the circumstances and bring those responsible for war crimes to justice. We also regret that international journalists still do not have access to the Gaza Strip, an unprecedented ban in a territory over such a long period,” said PEC President Blaise Lempen.
Drones becoming increasingly threatening
The war between Ukraine and Russia has resulted in the deaths of nine journalists, who were killed by either Ukrainian or Russian fire. Three Ukrainian journalists were killed, as was French journalist Antoni Lallican in Ukraine, and five Russian journalists were killed by Ukrainian fire in the border regions (in Ukraine and Russia).
‘The increasing use of undetectable, ultra-fast drones poses a new and serious threat to war reporters on both sides. Access to victims is even more restricted,’ lamented Blaise Lempen.
Several other Ukrainian journalists have died in combat while serving in the armed forces. According to the Institute of Mass Information (Ukraine), a total of 120 journalists have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, including Ukrainian journalists who died in combat. There are no statistics on Russian journalists enlisted in the Russian armed forces who have been killed during the hostilities.
Yemen, Mexico, Sudan
Among the countries most affected, the PEC deplores the deaths of 15 media workers in Yemen, including 13 in an Israeli attackon September 10.
Faced with violence from drug traffickers, Mexico remains a country with the highest number of victims, with nine murders in 2025.
The situation in Sudan has also worsened due to ongoing fighting, with at least eight deaths among Sudanese media personnel.
The PEC counted six victims in India, five in Ecuador and five in Pakistan. Four were killed in Bangladesh, four in Iran, targeted by an Israeli attack in Tehran, and four in the Philippines.
In Peru, three journalists were murdered. There were also three victims in Syria. Next came Afghanistan, Colombia, Honduras, Iraq, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the United States, with 2 killed in each country.
One death was recorded in each of the following countries: Brazil, Guatemala, Haiti, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tanzania, Turkey and Zimbabwe.
Impunity and requests for support
Among the PEC’s main concerns, impunity remains a major problem. In the absence of independent investigations and prosecutions, these crimes are on the rise. The PEC supports the recommendation issued by the conference on the protection of journalists in armed conflicts, which met in Doha, Qatar, on 8 and 9 October, calling for the creation of an international commission of inquiry under the auspices of the UN pending the adoption of an international convention on the protection of journalists in conflict zones with the creation of an internationally recognised press emblem.
The PEC is also very concerned about the increase in the number of individual requests for support it has received from persecuted journalists seeking safe asylum. Journalists from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Syria, Turkey and Sudan have requested assistance from the PEC.
‘Unfortunately, democratic governments are increasingly closed to such requests and persecuted journalists face almost systematic rejection of their asylum application. This is distressing,’ said the PEC chairman.
Unlike other organisations, the PEC includes all journalists killed in its statistics, regardless of whether their death was related to their professional activity. It is difficult to prove that a crime was committed in connection with a journalist’s work without a thorough and independent investigation, which is often lacking.
Source: PEC
