These are the countries with the most and least press freedom in the world

The UK is the 38th country in the world in terms of a free press, having slid four places down the rankings from last year.

While global press freedom slipped, the UK declined even more over the past year; it's overall index score dropping 1.7 points, compared to the average decline of 1.17.

It is unfortunately clear that many of the world’s leaders are developing a form of paranoia about legitimate journalism.

• RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire

The country that scored highest in the World Press Freedom Index 2016, published by Reporters Without Borders, was Finland, closely followed by the Netherlands and Norway, while Denmark and New Zealand rounded out the top five.

The country that scored lowest in the rankings of 180 countries, was Eritrea, followed by North Korea, Turkmenistan, the Syrian Arab Republic and China.

You can browse the results in full on the interactive map below:

The top ten countries for press freedom (and their scores) were:

1. Finland, 8.59
2. Netherlands, 8.76
3. Norway, 8.79
4. Denmark, 8.89
5. New Zealand, 10.01
6. Costa Rica, 11.1
7. Switzerland, 11.76
8. Sweden, 12.33
9. Ireland, 12.4
10. Jamaica, 12.45

The worst ten countries for press freedom (and their scores) were:

1. Eritrea, 83.92
2. Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 83.76
3. Turkmenistan, 83.44
4. Syrian Arab Republic, 81.35
5. China, 80.96
6. Vietnam, 74.27
7. Sudan, 72.53
8. Lao People's Democratic Republic, 71.58
9. Djibouti, 70.9
10. Cuba, 70.23

Tajikistan and Brunei fell furthest in the rankings, by 34 positions to 150th and 155th respectively.

Poland fell by 29 places, where the ultra-conservative government seized control of the public media.

The report also criticised media ownership by 'conglomerates with a wide range of business interests', as well as the use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) by UK police to 'violate the confidentiality of journalists’ sources'

The index has been published every year by RSF since 2002, and is based on an evaluation of media freedom that measures pluralism, media independence, the quality of the legal framework and the safety of journalists.

More:These are the countries with the least press freedom in the world

More:Do world leaders at Paris march really care about press freedoms?

More:We asked some students what freedom of speech means to them