A total of 49 journalists were killed as a result of their work this year, the lowest since 2003, according to Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres).

The figure represents a 44 per cent fall on the number killed last year, reported as 80 by RSF, and a 16-year low, although journalism remains a dangerous profession, the press freedom group has warned.

The drop is predominantly the result of a fall in the number of journalists killed in war zones, with 17 dying in conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan this year compared with 34 in those countries last year.