These are world’s five biggest jailers of journalists. China is the first

Reporters Without Borders Report: "Dictatorial and authoritarian regimes are filling their prisons faster than ever by jailing journalists," Christophe Deloire, RSF Secretary-General said.

Owing to Iran's protest crackdown, the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide surged to a record high of 533 in 2022, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The figure is up from 488 in 2021, already a record, according to the France-based NGO.

Reporters Without Borders: More than half of the journalists are in just five countries. (Representational)

More than half of the journalists are in just five countries: China, which remains "the world's biggest jailer of journalists" with 110, followed by Myanmar (62), Iran (47), Vietnam (39) and Belarus (31), the report showed.

"Dictatorial and authoritarian regimes are filling their prisons faster than ever by jailing journalists," Christophe Deloire, RSF Secretary-General said.

“This new record in the number of detained journalists confirms the pressing and urgent need to resist these unscrupulous governments and to extend our active solidarity to all those who embody the ideal of journalistic freedom, independence and pluralism,” Christophe Deloire added.

Iran is the only country that was not part of the list last year. The country had locked up an "unprecedented" 34 media professionals since protests broke out in September over the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for not wearing her hijab properly.

The number of women journalists in prison is also at an all-time high worldwide, rising from 60 to 78 since 2021. The report highlighted the cases of Iranians Nilufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi -- among 15 female journalists arrested during the Iran protests -- who drew attention to the death of Amini and now face a potential death penalty.

It is "indicative of the Iranian authorities' desire to systematically reduce women to silence," RSF said.

The report also showed that three quarters of jailed journalists are concentrated in Asia and the Middle East and a sharp increase in media repression in Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.

The number of journalists killed has also risen -- to 57 -- due particularly to the war in Ukraine, up from "historic lows" of 48 and 50 in the last two years, respectively. Eight journalists have been killed reporting on the war, five of them from non-combatant countries, the report showed.