Digital Quality of Life Index 2020

Findings report

A global study on the quality of a digital wellbeing in 85 countries

6.3 billion people or 81% of the global population covered

2

Five DQL pillars

Key takeaways

• Global outlook

• Internet usage

• Institutional development

Internet affordability

Internet quality

Electronic infrastructure

Electronic security

Electronic government

Final remarks

Methodology & data sources

Contacts

3

4..11

4..6

7..8

9..11

12..15

16..18

19..21

22..24

25..27

28..30

31

32

OutlineDigital Quality of Life index 2020

1 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 N/A

Global rank

Five pillars that determine the digital quality of life

Today, people's overall wellbeing is strongly

influenced by their digital wellbeing. Digital

Quality of Life (DQL) Index 2020 offers a

unique insight into the overall digital quality of

life based on five core pillars.

3

How much time people have to work to afford the internet connection

Internet affordability

Internet qualityHow fast and stable is the internet connectivity in a country

Electronic infrastructureHow developed and inclusive is the existing electronic infrastructure

DQL

Electronic governmentHow advanced and digitized are country’s governmental services

Electronic securityHow safe and protected can people feel in a country

7 of 10 countries with the highest digital quality of life are in Europe

global outlookKey takeaways:

EUROPE

4

High inequality in affordability: people in 75% of the researched countries have to work more than the global average to afford the internet

global outlookKey takeaways:

5

COVID-19 impacted the internet stability: 49 of 85 countries experienced drops in mobile and 44 in broadband speed due to WFH setting

global outlookKey takeaways:

6

95% of people in Scandinavia use the internet (the most active internet users) vs. 35% in Southern Asia (the least active region globally)

internet usageKey takeaways:

7

USAGE

ICT adoption

Speed

Internet speed (mobile and broadband) is higher in countries with high ICT adoption rates and internet usage

internet usageKey takeaways:

8

European Union countries lead in protecting people's personal data

institutional developmentKey takeaways:

9

10

Countries stagnate in improving e-infrastructure once they reach higher than average GDP per capita level

institutional developmentKey takeaways:

GDP

E-infrastructure

Strong e-security positively correlates with well developed e-government, except for Eastern European countries

institutional developmentKey takeaways:

11

Internet affordability

The affordability of the internet connection

directly impacts its accessibility.

A less affordable internet has a negative effect

on the overall digital wellbeing and vice versa.

12

Internet affordability index

Time of work required to afford the cheapest

mobile internet (indexed)

Time of work required to afford the cheapest

broadband internet (indexed)

Countries with the most and the least affordable internet

The overall affordability is measured

combining the affordability of the

cheapest mobile and broadband

plans available in a country.

13

76 Nigeria

77 Honduras

78 Colombia

79 Panama

80 Mexico

81 Peru

82 Philippines

83 Guatemala

84 Costa Rica

85 Albania

Least affordable

1 Israel

2 Canada

3 Azerbaijan

4 Poland

5 Iran

6 France

7 Denmark

8 Sweden

9 India

10 Bulgaria

Most affordable

Mobile is much more affordable than broadband

research methodology* The indicators are explained in more detail in the

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3 hours 48 minutes is a global average of working

time needed to afford the cheapest broadband

internet

vs.

10 minutes is a global average work time required

to afford the cheapest mobile internet*

High inequality in internet affordability15

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Global average

People in 75% of the researched countries have to work more than the global average to afford the internet

Affordability index (weighted)

25%of the researched

countries

Internet quality

The quality of the internet connectivity highly depends on its speed

and stability. Slow and unstable connection inhibits daily use and

diminishes work efficiency, while fast and stable internet allows to

communicate better, enjoy high quality content, and more.

Consequently, it directly impacts the quality of one's digital life.

16

Internet quality index

Avg. mobile download

speed

Avg. broadband download

speed

Mobile stability during the

COVID-19 outbreak

Broadband stability during the

COVID-19 outbreak

76 Sri Lanka

77 Philippines

78 Algeria

79 Peru

80 Nigeria

81 Nepal

82 Bangladesh

83 India

84 Pakistan

85 Indonesia

Slowest and least stable internet

High broadband speed ≠ High mobile speed

Internet quality (mobile and

broadband combined) is the highest

in countries with high internet

usage and high internet

technologies' (ICT) adoption rates

17

1 Singapore

2 Sweden

3 Netherlands

4 Norway

5 Denmark

6 Switzerland

7 Canada

8 Belgium

9 Australia

10 Estonia

Fastest and most stable internet

Singapore and Balkan countries surprise by the internet quality18

Average

AverageSingapore has the fastest broadband & the 8th fastest

mobile in the world that are also highly stable

Balkan countries are scoring surprisingly high on internet

quality despite lower e-infrastructure levels due to fast

and stable mobile internet.

Singapore

Bulgaria

Serbia

CroatiaAlbania

E-infrastructure index (weighted) Country scores

0,1088

0,0800

0,1375

0,1663

0,1950

0,20000,15880,11750,07630,0350

Internet quality index (weighted)

Electronic infrastructure

Highly functional e-infrastructure enables people to use

the internet more in their daily lives for a multitude of

purposes, such as studying, e-commerce, entertainment,

banking, and others. This strongly amounts to having a

better digital experience.

19

Electronic infrastructure index

Active internet users (per 100 inhabitants)

(indexed)

ICT adotion rate (indexed)

76 Pakistan

77 Kenya

78 Bangladesh

79 Nepal

80 Nigeria

81 Honduras

82 India

83 Sri Lanka

84 Guatemala

85 Indonesia

Least developed e-infrastructure

Eastern Asia, Europe & North America lead in e-infrastructure development

Countries in Central America and

Africa lag behind in terms of ICT

adoption and internet usage.

20

1 United Arab Emirates

2 Sweden

3 Denmark

4 Quatar

5 Norway

6 Japan

7 Switzerland

8 Singapore

9 Netherlands

10 New Zealand

Most developed e-infrastructure

High GDP ≠ better e-infrastructure21

Advancement in e-infrastructure correlates

with economic wealth only to a certain point.

Above average GDP per capita doesn't

guarantee better internet technologies’ (ICT)

adoption rate or higher internet usage.

0

10000

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0,20000,15000,10000,05000,0000

E-infrastructure index (weighted)

GDP per capita (current USD)

Correlation

Correlation decreases

Country score

Electronic security

Country’s preparedness to counter the ever growing

threat of cyber crimes as well as its commitment to

protect any individual’s privacy signal about the extent

to which people can feel confident about their online

data and digital experience.

22

Electronic security index

Cybersecurity (indexed)

Status of personal data protection (indexed)

76 Honduras

77 Lebanon

78 Guatemala

79 Panama

80 Trinidad and Tobago

81 Pakistan

82 Nepal

83 Algeria

84 Sri Lanka

85 Bangladesh

Lowest e-security

European Union leads in electronic security

Top 10 countries with the highest

e-security levels are the European

Union member states. Globally, they

lead in implementing effective

cybersecurity policies and ensuring

personal data protection.

23

1 United Kingdom

2 France

3 Lithuania

4 Estonia

5 Spain

6 Norway

7 Netherlands

8 Finland

9 Denmark

10 Germany

Highest e-security

EU's GDPR boosts region's electronic security24

European countries

E-security index

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Index average

Governments in Europe, South-eastern Asia, and North

America are the most prepared to counter cyber threats.

South-eastern Asian countries and Australia fall short on

personal data protection.

E-security index (weighted)

Electronic government

The advancement of electronic government services helps to

minimize the bureaucracy, reduce corruption and increase

transparency of the public sector. Well-developed e-government

also improves the efficiency of public services and helps people save

time, having a notable influence on the quality of their digital lives.

25

Electronic government index

State of government's online presence (indexed)

Readiness to employ the artificial intelligence technology (indexed)

76 Algeria

77 Lebanon

78 Bosnia and Herzegovina

79 Nigeria

80 Honduras

81 Paraguay

82 Guatemala

83 Pakistan

84 Armenia

85 Sri Lanka

Least developed e-government

E-government development strongly correlates with country's e-security

The government's readiness to take

advantage of the opportunities

offered by the artificial intelligence

technology and the assortment of its

services provided online strongly

correlate with the country's

e-security, except for Eastern

European, South Asian, and African

countries.

26

1 Singapore

2 United Kingdom

3 United States of America

4 Denmark

5 Finland

6 France

7 Germany

8 Sweden

9 Japan

10 Canada

Most developed e-government

India shines in e-government27

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India stands out in the field of e-government advancement

despite lower than average digital quality of life level.

Index average

E-government index (weighted)

28

E-security has the strongest correlation (0.89) with the DQLFocusing resources on improving country's cybersecurity and protecting

people's personal data would have the greatest impact on their digital

quality of life

Final remarks

29

Importance of the institutional factorsOut of all the pillars, country's e-security is the least correlated (0.58)

with its GDP per capita. It proves that other factors (ex. government's

efficiency, legislation on data protection, etc.) than GDP play a more

important role in people's digital lives.

Final remarks

30

Focus on e-government, e-infrastructure & quality to improve DQLInternet affordability has the lowest (0.52) correlation with the DQL,

highlighting the fact that investing in internet quality (0.84),

e-government (0.84), e-infrastructure (0.84) would have a more positive

effect on people's digital wellbeing.

Final remarks

Methodology & data sources

Information points used to index the digital quality of life

around the world were gathered from open data sources

provided by the United Nations, World Bank, International

Telecommunications Union, U.S. Department of State, World

Economic Forum, Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et

des Libertés, Speedtest, Cable, United Nations University, and

the International Development Research Centre.

hereFull data set and the research material can be found

hereFull methodology can be found

31

Curious to learn more?For questions and commentary, contact:

DomGabrielle

Research inquiriesGeneral inquiries

dom@surfsharkpress.comgabrielle@surfsharkpress.com

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