In which country Highest number of journalists killed
Executive summary
In short timeframes covering 2023–2025, the territories of Palestine (notably Gaza) — and by extension actions by Israeli forces — accounted for the single highest number of journalists killed, according to multiple press‑freedom monitors (RSF, IFJ, CPJ) [1] [2] [3]. Over longer historical windows (two decades), conflict zones such as Iraq and Syria have recorded the largest cumulative tolls of journalist deaths [4] [5].
1. Gaza in 2023–2025: the deadliest single place for journalists
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and other press‑freedom bodies documented that the Gaza Strip produced the largest single‑country or single‑territory death toll among journalists in recent years, with RSF reporting that Gaza accounted for nearly 30% of journalists killed in 2024 and that Israel was the leading killer of journalists in 2025 [1] [6]. The International Federation of Journalists’ (IFJ) final 2025 list counted 74 journalists killed in the Middle East and Arab world that year, 56 of them in Palestine, underscoring that the recent spike in fatalities is concentrated in that territory [2].
2. 2024–2025 reporting: multiple monitors converge on the same conclusion
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described 2024 as the deadliest year in its history and reported that a large share of those killed were Palestinians in the Gaza conflict, with CPJ analyses showing that almost 70% of journalists killed in 2024 were killed by Israeli action in that theatre [3]. RSF’s 2025 and 2024 round‑ups likewise single out Gaza as the deadliest region for media workers during that period [1] [7]. These contemporaneous tallies, produced by independent NGOs that use slightly different inclusion rules, all point to Palestine/Gaza as the highest‑count territory in the recent crisis years [3] [1] [2].
3. Historical perspective: Iraq and Syria top the two‑decade tally
When the clock is widened, the picture shifts: RSF’s analysis of the past 20 years (2003–2022) identifies Iraq and Syria as the two countries with the highest cumulative numbers of journalists killed, together accounting for more than a third of fatalities in that period [4]. UNESCO’s Observatory maintains an ongoing database of killings since 1993, which is the authoritative global record for longitudinal study, and its remit confirms that conflict zones and long running civil wars dominate the long‑term statistics [5].
4. Why different answers depend on timeframe and methodology
The question “which country has the highest number of journalists killed” therefore demands a framing choice: single‑year or recent crisis (Palestine/Gaza and actors associated with that conflict); multi‑year historical totals (Iraq and Syria over two decades); or cumulative counts maintained by UNESCO/CPJ/RSF/IFJ that apply different inclusion standards [5] [8] [9] [2]. NGOs vary in whether they count only journalists killed “in direct relation to their work,” include media workers, or include casualties in active combat/crossfire; these definitional differences materially affect country rankings [9] [8].
5. Competing narratives, source positions and limits of the record
Monitors like RSF, CPJ and IFJ pursue press‑freedom advocacy and emphasise impunity and targeting of reporters, which drives their investigative priorities and public messaging [9] [8] [2]. Governments and combatants often dispute attribution of responsibility for individual deaths; some states claim journalists were combatants or collateral victims — disputes that CPJ and others note and sometimes challenge [3] [10]. UNESCO’s Observatory offers the most neutral, long‑running dataset but depends on member‑state responses for judicial status updates and cannot resolve contested battlefield claims alone [5]. Where sources do not explicitly quantify a single definitive “most killed country” across all timeframes, this analysis has avoided overstating certainty.
6. Bottom line and how to read future counts
For recent years and the 2023–2025 crisis window, Palestine — specifically Gaza — emerges as the single deadliest place for journalists according to RSF, CPJ and IFJ tallies; for two‑decade historical totals, Iraq and Syria top the list, per RSF and UNESCO data [1] [2] [4] [5]. Any definitive answer therefore requires stating the timeframe, the dataset and the inclusion rules used; readers should consult UNESCO’s Observatory for longitudinal queries and RSF/CPJ/IFJ reports for the latest annual and conflict‑specific tallies [5] [9] [8] [2].