What is Uzbekistan's ranking in the Freedom of Speech Index?

According to the Freedom of Speech Index rating released by international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders, Uzbekistan's ranking has fallen by four places compared to last year.  The country now sits at 137th place out of 180 countries evaluated in the index, with a score of 45.73 points.  This suggests that the situation with freedom of speech in Uzbekistan remains complicated.

The ranking is based on five indicators: political, economic, legal, social, and security.  Uzbekistan's scores in these sub-indicators are as follows: 45.52 points in political (132nd place), 38.40 points in economic (132nd place), 52.20 points in legislation (120th place), 43.56 points in social (147th place), and 48.98 points in security (127th place). 

The top five countries in the ranking are Norway (95.18 points), Ireland (89.91 points), Denmark (89.48 points), Sweden (88.15 points), and Finland (87.94 points).  On the other end of the spectrum, North Korea (180th place), China (179th place), Vietnam (178th place), Iran (177th place), Turkmenistan (176th place), and Syria (175th place) scored the lowest.

Notably, the United States placed 45th in the ranking, Russia placed 164th, and China placed 175th.  Among Uzbekistan's neighboring countries, Kyrgyzstan placed 122nd with 49.91 points, Kazakhstan placed 134th with 45.87 points, Tajikistan placed 153rd with 39.06 points, and Afghanistan placed 152nd with 39.75 points.

Overall, Uzbekistan's declining ranking in the Freedom of Speech Index underscores the challenges faced by journalists and media workers in the country.