The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) confirmed that 128 journalists were killed around the world during 2025, with more than half of the victims in the Middle East, according to figures published by the federation.
IFJ Secretary General Anthony Bellanger told Agence France-Presse that the toll, which exceeds the number recorded in 2024, “is not just a statistic, but a global red alert for our colleagues.”
The federation expressed deep concern over the situation in the Palestinian territories, where 56 media workers were killed during the year, describing the scale of the killings as unprecedented.
“We have never seen anything like this before: such a high number of deaths in such a short period of time, and in such a small area,” Bellanger said.
The IFJ also reported the killing of journalists in Yemen and Ukraine, including French photojournalist Anthony Lallican, as well as in Sudan, Peru and India.
Bellanger denounced the prevailing climate of “impunity” enjoyed by perpetrators of these crimes, warning that the absence of justice allows the killing of journalists to continue.
The federation also voiced concern over the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide, which reached 533.
The IFJ usually publishes a higher annual death toll than Reporters Without Borders, which recorded 67 journalists killed in 2025, due to differences in methodology. The IFJ includes journalists who died in accidents in its count. Meanwhile, UNESCO reported the killing of 93 journalists worldwide during the same year.
