May 8, 2024
Israel Has The World's Highest Digital Quality Of Life In 2022, USA Only 12th

Life and work in the 21st century is increasingly reliant on modern technology, with a country’s digital quality of life playing a massive role on people’s day-to-day.

Some countries excel in internet access and affordability, while others have more modern digital systems and relevant laws. And, as Visual Capitalist's Omri Wallach details below, many regions of the world suffer with lacking digital infrastructure and access across the board.

The 2022 Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) from Surfshark analyzes countries on digital wellbeing, based on data from the UN, World Bank, Freedom House, and the International Communications Union.

5 Metrics for Measuring Digital Wellbeing

The DQL Index covers 117 countries with readily available data, making up 92% of the global population. Each country is scored on five pillars:

  • Internet Affordability—How much time people have to work to afford a stable internet connection.

  • Internet Quality—How fast and stable the internet connectivity in a country is and how well it’s improving.

  • Electronic Infrastructure—How well developed and inclusive a country’s existing electronic infrastructure is.

  • Electronic Security—How safe and protected people feel in a country.

  • Electronic Government—How advanced and digitized a country’s government services are.

Visualizing The World’s Digital Quality of Life

Overall, Europe and Asia led the digital quality of life rankings in 2022. Israel took the top spot with an incredibly strong score in internet affordability. Here are the countries sorted by rankings and their weighted scores in each category:

Rank Country Affordability Quality E-infrastructure E-security E-government
1 Israel 0.1917 0.0981 0.1668 0.1503 0.1541
2 Denmark 0.047 0.1186 0.1968 0.1878 0.1844
3 Germany 0.0718 0.0926 0.1922 0.1946 0.1612
4 France 0.0534 0.111 0.1834 0.1878 0.1749
5 Sweden 0.0213 0.1059 0.1958 0.1878 0.1787
6 Netherlands 0.0241 0.0985 0.1956 0.1865 0.1796
7 Finland 0.0171 0.0973 0.192 0.1892 0.1869
8 Japan 0.0684 0.1024 0.1846 0.1462 0.177
9 U.K. 0.0413 0.0898 0.1882 0.1611 0.188
10 South Korea 0.0252 0.1139 0.1884 0.1516 0.1868
11 Lithuania 0.0508 0.087 0.1705 0.1973 0.1592
12 U.S. 0.0326 0.113 0.1944 0.1224 0.1947
13 Switzerland 0.0337 0.1114 0.1914 0.1597 0.1607
14 Estonia 0.0219 0.0759 0.1852 0.1946 0.1779
15 Singapore 0.0717 0.1134 0.1852 0.0943 0.19
16 Spain 0.0257 0.0924 0.1777 0.1919 0.1656
17 Norway 0.0136 0.0923 0.194 0.1649 0.174
18 Luxembourg 0.0272 0.0911 0.1878 0.1689 0.1597
19 Italy 0.0362 0.082 0.1733 0.1824 0.159
20 Portugal 0.0085 0.1101 0.1576 0.1932 0.1565
21 Belgium 0.0162 0.0868 0.1823 0.1973 0.1409
22 Austria 0.0279 0.0717 0.1782 0.1716 0.1719
23 Poland 0.0242 0.0869 0.1566 0.1905 0.1568
24 Ireland 0.0217 0.0874 0.1799 0.1662 0.1596
25 Czechia 0.023 0.0755 0.1707 0.196 0.1472
26 Canada 0.0228 0.0967 0.1831 0.1289 0.1723
27 Hungary 0.0206 0.1046 0.1647 0.1676 0.1425
28 New Zealand 0.0166 0.1027 0.1731 0.1341 0.1702
29 Slovakia 0.0233 0.0807 0.161 0.1865 0.1417
30 Bulgaria 0.0308 0.1025 0.1352 0.177 0.1452
31 Croatia 0.0133 0.0911 0.1625 0.1865 0.1346
32 Slovenia 0.0102 0.0934 0.1619 0.1622 0.1591
33 Latvia 0.0235 0.0918 0.1628 0.1784 0.1289
34 Romania 0.0299 0.105 0.1427 0.1743 0.1327
35 Australia 0.0453 0.0706 0.1755 0.1089 0.1802
36 Malta 0.0104 0.093 0.1639 0.1527 0.1547
37 Cyprus 0.0139 0.0718 0.1589 0.1689 0.1548
38 Malaysia 0.0319 0.0838 0.1636 0.1224 0.1561
39 Greece 0.0085 0.0713 0.142 0.2 0.1344
40 Chile 0.0251 0.1202 0.1469 0.1022 0.1538
41 Uruguay 0.0051 0.1054 0.1569 0.13 0.1498
42 Russia 0.0556 0.0794 0.1512 0.0943 0.152
43 China 0.0241 0.1045 0.1485 0.0741 0.175
44 U.A.E. 0.0071 0.1148 0.1779 0.0419 0.1712
45 Argentina 0.0073 0.0694 0.1575 0.13 0.1464
46 Qatar 0.0077 0.1077 0.1705 0.0808 0.1421
47 Armenia 0.1009 0.07 0.1356 0.0765 0.1221
48 Serbia 0.0184 0.0739 0.1387 0.1238 0.1429
49 Thailand 0.0081 0.1045 0.151 0.0876 0.1391
50 Ukraine 0.0259 0.0581 0.1613 0.1184 0.1256
51 Saudi Arabia 0.0057 0.0873 0.1635 0.0865 0.1408
52 Turkey 0.0153 0.0679 0.1526 0.0968 0.1488
53 Brazil 0.0078 0.0884 0.1388 0.0686 0.1558
54 Moldova 0.0357 0.0687 0.1359 0.0927 0.1226
55 Philippines 0.0044 0.0779 0.1371 0.1062 0.1265
56 Bahrain 0.0084 0.0878 0.166 0.047 0.1396
57 Colombia 0.0051 0.0775 0.1248 0.0954 0.1433
58 Costa Rica 0.0042 0.0721 0.1523 0.0954 0.1206
59 India 0.0266 0.071 0.1149 0.0822 0.1489
60 N. Macedonia 0.0095 0.0684 0.1409 0.0981 0.1237
61 Kazakhstan 0.0185 0.0639 0.1408 0.07 0.1473
62 Mexico 0.0111 0.0688 0.1291 0.0792 0.142
63 Paraguay 0.0091 0.0724 0.1424 0.0862 0.113
64 Albania 0.0087 0.0567 0.1313 0.09 0.1328
65 Oman 0.0053 0.065 0.1455 0.0473 0.1502
66 South Africa 0.0198 0.0689 0.1171 0.0778 0.1294
67 Georgia 0.0097 0.0577 0.1408 0.0941 0.1103
68 Mauritius 0.0149 0.0459 0.1311 0.09 0.1298
69 Belarus 0.0224 0.068 0.1396 0.0554 0.123
70 Vietnam 0.0145 0.0712 0.1396 0.0578 0.1241
71 Morocco 0.0068 0.0603 0.1247 0.113 0.1004
72 Indonesia 0.0064 0.0639 0.1382 0.0605 0.1342
73 Peru 0.0037 0.069 0.126 0.0819 0.1213
74 Azerbaijan 0.0093 0.0618 0.1361 0.0592 0.1253
75 Montenegro 0.0149 0.0566 0.1339 0.0765 0.1064
76 Bangladesh 0.024 0.0681 0.1204 0.0703 0.1021
77 Tunisia 0.011 0.0484 0.1225 0.0886 0.1142
78 Kenya 0.0047 0.0492 0.1391 0.0714 0.1193
79 Dominican Republic 0.0047 0.0597 0.1163 0.0754 0.1229
80 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.0127 0.0634 0.1353 0.0697 0.0974
81 Panama 0.0032 0.0851 0.1279 0.05 0.1111
82 Ecuador 0.0045 0.0656 0.132 0.0365 0.1256
83 Trinidad and Tobago 0.0094 0.0622 0.1277 0.0551 0.1074
84 Iran 0.0149 0.0585 0.1482 0.0149 0.1113
85 Egypt 0.0064 0.0583 0.1098 0.0595 0.1135
86 Nigeria 0.0014 0.0552 0.1187 0.0768 0.0916
87 Jordan 0.0048 0.0754 0.1434 0.0297 0.0862
88 Ghana 0.0025 0.0531 0.0957 0.0724 0.1091
89 Sri Lanka 0.0071 0.0658 0.0943 0.0446 0.1184
90 Mongolia 0.015 0.059 0.135 0.0189 0.0951
91 Kyrgyzstan 0.0105 0.0603 0.0986 0.0457 0.1074
92 Algeria 0.005 0.0601 0.1312 0.0551 0.0707
93 Bolivia 0.0051 0.0583 0.1287 0.0324 0.0941
94 Nepal 0.0069 0.0684 0.1132 0.0497 0.0762
95 Senegal 0.0036 0.055 0.1048 0.0603 0.0906
96 Pakistan 0.006 0.0616 0.0938 0.0446 0.1015
97 Jamaica 0.0047 0.0584 0.113 0.0432 0.0859
98 Uganda 0.0007 0.0489 0.0777 0.0768 0.0943
99 El Salvador 0.0028 0.0662 0.1066 0.0257 0.0944
100 Ivory Coast 0.0006 0.0465 0.0881 0.0724 0.0869
101 Cambodia 0.0043 0.0631 0.1178 0.0162 0.0831
102 Mali 0.0011 0.0548 0.0969 0.0603 0.0689
103 Namibia 0.0046 0.0517 0.0955 0.0322 0.0899
104 Guatemala 0.0029 0.059 0.0877 0.0257 0.0878
105 Zambia 0.0034 0.0241 0.0935 0.0781 0.0613
106 Botswana 0.0051 0.0523 0.0977 0.023 0.0777
107 Tanzania 0.0021 0.0517 0.0813 0.0257 0.0924
108 Honduras 0.004 0.0675 0.0838 0.0108 0.0861
109 Zimbabwe 0.0019 0.034 0.0907 0.0362 0.0854
110 Angola 0.0047 0.0567 0.0576 0.0495 0.0748
111 Laos 0.0066 0.0489 0.0955 0.0189 0.059
112 Tajikistan 0.0108 0.0485 0.073 0.0108 0.0754
113 Cameroon 0.0014 0.0178 0.073 0.0338 0.0832
114 Mozambique 0.0021 0.0378 0.0526 0.0295 0.0815
115 Ethiopia 0.0032 0.0472 0.048 0.0338 0.0682
116 Yemen 0.007 0.0644 0.0479 0.0081 0.0527
117 Congo DR 0.0063 0.0596 0.0446 0.0027 0.0394

Overall, 15 of the top 20 highest-scoring countries were located in Europe, including #2 Denmark and #3 Germany, reflecting the region’s strong scores in electronic infrastructure and security.

In addition to Israel, the Asia region was represented at the top by #8 Japan, #10 South Korea, and #15 Singapore. The only non-Asian and non-European country to make the top 20 was the United States at #12.

GDP’s Impact on Digital Infrastructure

Of the 117 countries that had data available for the index, the majority of the lowest-ranking countries were in Africa or Asia. This includes the bottom five: CameroonMozambiqueEthiopiaYemen, and DR Congo.

In fact, when the DQL Index was charted against GDP per capita, a clear and unsurprising trend emerges:

As countries have to grapple with limited resources and capital for increasing their digital wellbeing, we can see different priorities emerge. For example. many countries scored poorly on internet affordability and electronic government while prioritizing investments in internet quality and electronic infrastructure.

And despite the proliferation of mobile phones across the world, more countries were able to set up stable broadband internet over mobile internet.

To find out more interesting insights, dive in to the full Digital Quality of Life Index.

Tyler Durden Sun, 01/01/2023 - 20:15

Life and work in the 21st century is increasingly reliant on modern technology, with a country’s digital quality of life playing a massive role on people’s day-to-day.

Some countries excel in internet access and affordability, while others have more modern digital systems and relevant laws. And, as Visual Capitalist’s Omri Wallach details below, many regions of the world suffer with lacking digital infrastructure and access across the board.

The 2022 Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) from Surfshark analyzes countries on digital wellbeing, based on data from the UN, World Bank, Freedom House, and the International Communications Union.

5 Metrics for Measuring Digital Wellbeing

The DQL Index covers 117 countries with readily available data, making up 92% of the global population. Each country is scored on five pillars:

  • Internet Affordability—How much time people have to work to afford a stable internet connection.

  • Internet Quality—How fast and stable the internet connectivity in a country is and how well it’s improving.

  • Electronic Infrastructure—How well developed and inclusive a country’s existing electronic infrastructure is.

  • Electronic Security—How safe and protected people feel in a country.

  • Electronic Government—How advanced and digitized a country’s government services are.

Visualizing The World’s Digital Quality of Life

Overall, Europe and Asia led the digital quality of life rankings in 2022. Israel took the top spot with an incredibly strong score in internet affordability. Here are the countries sorted by rankings and their weighted scores in each category:

Rank Country Affordability Quality E-infrastructure E-security E-government
1 Israel 0.1917 0.0981 0.1668 0.1503 0.1541
2 Denmark 0.047 0.1186 0.1968 0.1878 0.1844
3 Germany 0.0718 0.0926 0.1922 0.1946 0.1612
4 France 0.0534 0.111 0.1834 0.1878 0.1749
5 Sweden 0.0213 0.1059 0.1958 0.1878 0.1787
6 Netherlands 0.0241 0.0985 0.1956 0.1865 0.1796
7 Finland 0.0171 0.0973 0.192 0.1892 0.1869
8 Japan 0.0684 0.1024 0.1846 0.1462 0.177
9 U.K. 0.0413 0.0898 0.1882 0.1611 0.188
10 South Korea 0.0252 0.1139 0.1884 0.1516 0.1868
11 Lithuania 0.0508 0.087 0.1705 0.1973 0.1592
12 U.S. 0.0326 0.113 0.1944 0.1224 0.1947
13 Switzerland 0.0337 0.1114 0.1914 0.1597 0.1607
14 Estonia 0.0219 0.0759 0.1852 0.1946 0.1779
15 Singapore 0.0717 0.1134 0.1852 0.0943 0.19
16 Spain 0.0257 0.0924 0.1777 0.1919 0.1656
17 Norway 0.0136 0.0923 0.194 0.1649 0.174
18 Luxembourg 0.0272 0.0911 0.1878 0.1689 0.1597
19 Italy 0.0362 0.082 0.1733 0.1824 0.159
20 Portugal 0.0085 0.1101 0.1576 0.1932 0.1565
21 Belgium 0.0162 0.0868 0.1823 0.1973 0.1409
22 Austria 0.0279 0.0717 0.1782 0.1716 0.1719
23 Poland 0.0242 0.0869 0.1566 0.1905 0.1568
24 Ireland 0.0217 0.0874 0.1799 0.1662 0.1596
25 Czechia 0.023 0.0755 0.1707 0.196 0.1472
26 Canada 0.0228 0.0967 0.1831 0.1289 0.1723
27 Hungary 0.0206 0.1046 0.1647 0.1676 0.1425
28 New Zealand 0.0166 0.1027 0.1731 0.1341 0.1702
29 Slovakia 0.0233 0.0807 0.161 0.1865 0.1417
30 Bulgaria 0.0308 0.1025 0.1352 0.177 0.1452
31 Croatia 0.0133 0.0911 0.1625 0.1865 0.1346
32 Slovenia 0.0102 0.0934 0.1619 0.1622 0.1591
33 Latvia 0.0235 0.0918 0.1628 0.1784 0.1289
34 Romania 0.0299 0.105 0.1427 0.1743 0.1327
35 Australia 0.0453 0.0706 0.1755 0.1089 0.1802
36 Malta 0.0104 0.093 0.1639 0.1527 0.1547
37 Cyprus 0.0139 0.0718 0.1589 0.1689 0.1548
38 Malaysia 0.0319 0.0838 0.1636 0.1224 0.1561
39 Greece 0.0085 0.0713 0.142 0.2 0.1344
40 Chile 0.0251 0.1202 0.1469 0.1022 0.1538
41 Uruguay 0.0051 0.1054 0.1569 0.13 0.1498
42 Russia 0.0556 0.0794 0.1512 0.0943 0.152
43 China 0.0241 0.1045 0.1485 0.0741 0.175
44 U.A.E. 0.0071 0.1148 0.1779 0.0419 0.1712
45 Argentina 0.0073 0.0694 0.1575 0.13 0.1464
46 Qatar 0.0077 0.1077 0.1705 0.0808 0.1421
47 Armenia 0.1009 0.07 0.1356 0.0765 0.1221
48 Serbia 0.0184 0.0739 0.1387 0.1238 0.1429
49 Thailand 0.0081 0.1045 0.151 0.0876 0.1391
50 Ukraine 0.0259 0.0581 0.1613 0.1184 0.1256
51 Saudi Arabia 0.0057 0.0873 0.1635 0.0865 0.1408
52 Turkey 0.0153 0.0679 0.1526 0.0968 0.1488
53 Brazil 0.0078 0.0884 0.1388 0.0686 0.1558
54 Moldova 0.0357 0.0687 0.1359 0.0927 0.1226
55 Philippines 0.0044 0.0779 0.1371 0.1062 0.1265
56 Bahrain 0.0084 0.0878 0.166 0.047 0.1396
57 Colombia 0.0051 0.0775 0.1248 0.0954 0.1433
58 Costa Rica 0.0042 0.0721 0.1523 0.0954 0.1206
59 India 0.0266 0.071 0.1149 0.0822 0.1489
60 N. Macedonia 0.0095 0.0684 0.1409 0.0981 0.1237
61 Kazakhstan 0.0185 0.0639 0.1408 0.07 0.1473
62 Mexico 0.0111 0.0688 0.1291 0.0792 0.142
63 Paraguay 0.0091 0.0724 0.1424 0.0862 0.113
64 Albania 0.0087 0.0567 0.1313 0.09 0.1328
65 Oman 0.0053 0.065 0.1455 0.0473 0.1502
66 South Africa 0.0198 0.0689 0.1171 0.0778 0.1294
67 Georgia 0.0097 0.0577 0.1408 0.0941 0.1103
68 Mauritius 0.0149 0.0459 0.1311 0.09 0.1298
69 Belarus 0.0224 0.068 0.1396 0.0554 0.123
70 Vietnam 0.0145 0.0712 0.1396 0.0578 0.1241
71 Morocco 0.0068 0.0603 0.1247 0.113 0.1004
72 Indonesia 0.0064 0.0639 0.1382 0.0605 0.1342
73 Peru 0.0037 0.069 0.126 0.0819 0.1213
74 Azerbaijan 0.0093 0.0618 0.1361 0.0592 0.1253
75 Montenegro 0.0149 0.0566 0.1339 0.0765 0.1064
76 Bangladesh 0.024 0.0681 0.1204 0.0703 0.1021
77 Tunisia 0.011 0.0484 0.1225 0.0886 0.1142
78 Kenya 0.0047 0.0492 0.1391 0.0714 0.1193
79 Dominican Republic 0.0047 0.0597 0.1163 0.0754 0.1229
80 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.0127 0.0634 0.1353 0.0697 0.0974
81 Panama 0.0032 0.0851 0.1279 0.05 0.1111
82 Ecuador 0.0045 0.0656 0.132 0.0365 0.1256
83 Trinidad and Tobago 0.0094 0.0622 0.1277 0.0551 0.1074
84 Iran 0.0149 0.0585 0.1482 0.0149 0.1113
85 Egypt 0.0064 0.0583 0.1098 0.0595 0.1135
86 Nigeria 0.0014 0.0552 0.1187 0.0768 0.0916
87 Jordan 0.0048 0.0754 0.1434 0.0297 0.0862
88 Ghana 0.0025 0.0531 0.0957 0.0724 0.1091
89 Sri Lanka 0.0071 0.0658 0.0943 0.0446 0.1184
90 Mongolia 0.015 0.059 0.135 0.0189 0.0951
91 Kyrgyzstan 0.0105 0.0603 0.0986 0.0457 0.1074
92 Algeria 0.005 0.0601 0.1312 0.0551 0.0707
93 Bolivia 0.0051 0.0583 0.1287 0.0324 0.0941
94 Nepal 0.0069 0.0684 0.1132 0.0497 0.0762
95 Senegal 0.0036 0.055 0.1048 0.0603 0.0906
96 Pakistan 0.006 0.0616 0.0938 0.0446 0.1015
97 Jamaica 0.0047 0.0584 0.113 0.0432 0.0859
98 Uganda 0.0007 0.0489 0.0777 0.0768 0.0943
99 El Salvador 0.0028 0.0662 0.1066 0.0257 0.0944
100 Ivory Coast 0.0006 0.0465 0.0881 0.0724 0.0869
101 Cambodia 0.0043 0.0631 0.1178 0.0162 0.0831
102 Mali 0.0011 0.0548 0.0969 0.0603 0.0689
103 Namibia 0.0046 0.0517 0.0955 0.0322 0.0899
104 Guatemala 0.0029 0.059 0.0877 0.0257 0.0878
105 Zambia 0.0034 0.0241 0.0935 0.0781 0.0613
106 Botswana 0.0051 0.0523 0.0977 0.023 0.0777
107 Tanzania 0.0021 0.0517 0.0813 0.0257 0.0924
108 Honduras 0.004 0.0675 0.0838 0.0108 0.0861
109 Zimbabwe 0.0019 0.034 0.0907 0.0362 0.0854
110 Angola 0.0047 0.0567 0.0576 0.0495 0.0748
111 Laos 0.0066 0.0489 0.0955 0.0189 0.059
112 Tajikistan 0.0108 0.0485 0.073 0.0108 0.0754
113 Cameroon 0.0014 0.0178 0.073 0.0338 0.0832
114 Mozambique 0.0021 0.0378 0.0526 0.0295 0.0815
115 Ethiopia 0.0032 0.0472 0.048 0.0338 0.0682
116 Yemen 0.007 0.0644 0.0479 0.0081 0.0527
117 Congo DR 0.0063 0.0596 0.0446 0.0027 0.0394

Overall, 15 of the top 20 highest-scoring countries were located in Europe, including #2 Denmark and #3 Germany, reflecting the region’s strong scores in electronic infrastructure and security.

In addition to Israel, the Asia region was represented at the top by #8 Japan, #10 South Korea, and #15 Singapore. The only non-Asian and non-European country to make the top 20 was the United States at #12.

GDP’s Impact on Digital Infrastructure

Of the 117 countries that had data available for the index, the majority of the lowest-ranking countries were in Africa or Asia. This includes the bottom five: CameroonMozambiqueEthiopiaYemen, and DR Congo.

In fact, when the DQL Index was charted against GDP per capita, a clear and unsurprising trend emerges:

As countries have to grapple with limited resources and capital for increasing their digital wellbeing, we can see different priorities emerge. For example. many countries scored poorly on internet affordability and electronic government while prioritizing investments in internet quality and electronic infrastructure.

And despite the proliferation of mobile phones across the world, more countries were able to set up stable broadband internet over mobile internet.

To find out more interesting insights, dive in to the full Digital Quality of Life Index.

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