Journalist deaths worldwide rose 20pc in 2024-2025, says Unesco

Mourners march with the bodies of the Al Jazeera journalists who were killed in an overnight Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City, from Al-Shifa hospital to their burial at the Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza City in this file picture dated August 11, 2025. — AFP pic

First Published: Tuesday, 03 Nov 2026 9:41 AM MYT

MOSCOW, Nov3 — The number of journalists killed worldwide rose by 20 per cent between 2024 and 2025 to 189, the majority of whom died in armed conflicts, including in drone strikes, Unesco said in a new report on Monday, Sputnik/RIA Novosti reported.

“Between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025, Unesco recorded the deaths of 189 journalists, media workers and social media producers engaged in journalistic activity worldwide, a 20 per cent increase from the previous reporting period,” the report said.

The report noted that 2025 alone saw more journalists killed than in any other single year in the past eight years. Most of these fatalities occurred in armed conflicts, including those involving drone strikes.

The highest number of killings was recorded in Arab states, as well as in countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, with 97 and 37 journalists killed, respectively, Unesco said. The highest number of journalists killed over the two-year period was in Palestine, where at least 62 media workers lost their lives, it added.

The report also indicates that 12 journalists were killed in Ukraine during this period, and two in the Russian Federation.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the names of many Russian journalists killed by militants of the Kyiv regime had once again been omitted from the latest report by the Unesco Director-General on the safety of journalists.

The number of journalists killed in conflict zones worldwide has risen by 24 per cent over the past two years, with a significant proportion of these deaths caused by drone strikes, the report said.

“During the 2024-2025 biennium, Unesco recorded 127 killings of journalists in countries experiencing armed conflict, accounting for 67 per cent of the total number of killings,” the report read.

Furthermore, available data shows that 40 per cent of these deaths resulted from the use of unmanned aerial vehicles. According to Unesco, at least 50 journalists were killed across six different countries as a result of drone strikes in 2024–2025. — Bernama-Sputnik/Ria Novosti