NAMIBIA’S internet affordability is around 50% worse than the global average, reveals the Digital Quality of Life Index study.
According to the third annual edition of the Digital Quality of Life (DQL) study, Namibia ranks 100th among 110 countries. It reveals that Namibians have to work more than 14 minutes to afford the cheapest 1GB mobile data package, four minutes more than the worldwide average.
The study was conducted by cybersecurity company Surfshark, and covers 90% of the global population. It evaluates countries based on five fundamental digital well-being pillars. Namibia shows its best results in internet quality and affordability (ranking 62nd in both), but has comparatively low ranks in e-security (102nd), e-infrastructure (96th), and e-government (90th).
Overall, Namibia ranks 13th in Africa. The country struggles with e-security because of the low availability of data protection laws and poor cybersecurity index, and it is surpassed by Angola and South Africa.
“Digital opportunities have proved to be more important than ever during the Covid-19 crisis,” said Vytautas Kaziukonis, CEO of Surfshark, stressing the importance for every country to ensure fully remote operational capacities for their economies.
“That is why, for the third year in a row, we continue the DQL research, which provides a robust global outlook into how countries excel digitally. The index sets the basis for meaningful discussions about how digital advancement impacts a country’s prosperity and where improvements can be made.”
In an all-around picture, six out of 10 countries holding the highest scores are located in Europe, following last year’s trend. Denmark ranks first in DQL for the second year in a row, closely followed by South Korea, said Surfshark. Finland ranks third, while Israel and the United States round out the top five of 110 nations that were evaluated. The bottom five countries are Ethiopia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Guatemala and Angola.
Regionally, the US stands out as the country with the highest digital quality of life in the Americas, while South Korea takes the lead in Asia and South Africa tops Africa, while Australia leads in Oceania, outperforming New Zealand in various digital areas.
The 2021 DQL study examined a total population of 6,9 billion people in terms of five core pillars and 14 underpinning indicators that provide a comprehensive measure.
Email: bottomline@namibian.com.na
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