Global key insights of DQL 2022

Most and least affordable internet

The world’s poorest countries pay the most for bad quality internet

Nearly half of the countries examined in the DQL have lower than global average internet affordability and internet quality. The average GDP per capita in these countries is only about a third of the global GDP average (19,175 USD).

Some people have to work flat out for two weeks just to afford the internet

The Ivory Coast has the least affordable fixed internet of any country in the world. Here citizens have to work 10 times more (65h 33min) than the global average (6h 31min) to afford a monthly subscription. In Botswana, the country with the least affordable mobile internet, one has to work 12 times longer (2h 43min) than the global average (13min) to afford 1GB of data.

Best and worst quality internet

There is a major divide between countries at the top and the bottom in terms of internet quality.

For instance, Yemen's mobile internet speed (13Mbps) is only 5% of the United Arab Emirates (248Mbps). There is an even larger inequality in fixed internet speeds with Yemen’s 8Mbps performing at only 3% compared to Singapore’s 261Mbps.

Most and least developed e-infrastructure

GDP is less important for the development of e-infrastructure

26 countries (22.2% of the sample) examined in the DQL index have a lower than average GDP but higher than average e-infrastructure.

• 10 countries are from Asia (29% of all analyzed Asian countries)
• 9 are from Europe (24%)
• 5 are from South America (56%)
• 1 is from North America (9%) and 1 is from Africa (4%).

Economic wealth determines e-infrastructure growth, but only up to a point

The impact that GDP per capita has on e-infrastructure is significant when GDP per capita is up to 10k USD but slows down after that. Once GDP per capita exceeds 40k USD, e-infrastructure improvement starts to weaken. This may be due to technological limitations and/or other factors having a greater impact on e-infrastructure.

E-infrastructure is characterized by high inequality

For instance, in the 10 highest-ranking countries in e-infrastructure, 96% of the population use the internet (internet penetration). On the other hand, less than a third (29%) of people use the internet in the 10 lowest ranking countries.

Highest and lowest e-security

For the second year in a row, the EU ranks highest for e-security

The top 10 e-security countries are all from the European Union. Their e-security average is almost twice the size of the global average. They also lead the world in cybersecurity policy implementation to better protect the population's personal data.

Countries with better e-infrastructure are more equipped to prevent cyber threats and incidents

Countries with higher e-infrastructure can further strengthen their cybersecurity (correlation 0.76) than countries with poorer e-infrastructure.

Autocratic countries don't show any intentions to protect their citizens' data

• Only 2% of the analyzed autocratic countries have data protection levels higher than the global average (0.44).
• Democratic countries have better than average global data protection levels (53%).
• Democratic countries hold 0.62 in data protection levels while autocratic countries rank two times lower than the global average with 0.18.

Most and least developed e-government

Countries with the highest readiness to adopt AI technology are also ready to counter national cyber threats

18 of the top 20 countries in AI readiness criteria also have a better than average cybersecurity index. The two exceptions here are China and the U.A.E.:

• The United Arab Emirates provides no data protection to its citizens, which increases the risk of violating personal privacy. The country also falls short in managing digital threats, according to the National Cyber Security Network.
• China, compared to last year, has improved its National Cybersecurity Index, but still falls short in cybersecurity due to poor cybercrime prevention and a lack of cybersecurity policy development.

The US, Singapore, and the UK have the most advanced electronic government due to an especially high level of AI readiness

The US leads the e-government pillar for a second year running, while the UK lost its second place position to Singapore. Singapore jumped up 3 places in the e-government pillar by improving its readiness to implement AI in the public services sector.

Governments with established, easily accessible online services are better prepared to implement AI in the public services sector

There is a strong correlation (0.92) between regional averages for Online Service and AI Readiness indices. Overall, Northern America leads in the e-government pillar with a 43% higher regional index than the average value (0.64).