Malta has gone up 13 notches in a press freedom index published by Reporters without Borders.

The international NGO’s World Press Freedom Index for 2013 ranked Malta in 45th place, up from 58th in 2011 and 2012, when the island suffered a steep fall from its 2010 14th rank. In 2009, Malta occupied the 11th place with Belgium.

The report came as the United Nations marked World Press Freedom on May 3 to raise awareness about the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments to respect the right to freedom of expression which forms part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The press freedom index published yearly by Reporters without Borders measures the level of freedom of information in nearly 180 countries. It reflects the extent of freedom enjoyed by journalists and news organisations, and the authorities’ efforts to uphold this freedom.

The index is partly based on a questionnaire sent to Reporters without Borders’ partner NGOs and a network of 150 correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. The questions consider six general criteria: pluralism, media independence, environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency and infrastructure. The NGO said that following the Arab spring, this year’s index reflects better government attitudes towards media freedom in the long term.

The same three European countries that topped the list last year headed the index again this year. For the third year running, Finland distinguished itself as the country respecting media freedom the most, followed by the Netherlands and Norway.

On the other hand, dictatorial countries occupy the last three positions – Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.