Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland continue to lead the European Commission's Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) corresponding to 2016. The countries posted scores of 0.680, 0.673, 0.672 and 0.669 respectively, while Romania continued as the worst performing EU country with a score of 0.35. The EC said Member States have made progress in areas such as connectivity and digital skills, as well as in public services, since the publication of the Digital Single Market Strategy last year. However, the pace of progress has been gradual, with the score for the EU as a whole inching up to 0.52 out of 1 from 0.50 last year. All countries except Sweden improved their score, with the Netherlands, Estonia, Germany, Malta, Austria and Portugal growing the fastest.
In terms of connectivity, the index revealed that 71 percent of European homes can access high-speed broadband of at least 30 Mbps, compared to 62 percent last year, while the number of mobile broadband subscriptions increased from 64 subscriptions per each 100 Europeans in 2014 to the current figure of 75.
