The Nordic countries and the Netherlands continue to lead digital readiness in the EU, according to the latest Digital Economy and Society Index published by the European Commission. Over the past year, the gap between the most and the least digital countries in the EU slightly narrowed, from 36 points to 34 points. Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands scored the highest ratings in the DESI 2018, while Ireland, Cyprus and Spain progressed the most (by more than 15 points) over the past four years.
The index combines the five elements connectivity, human capital, use of internet, integration of digital technology and digital public services to show the EU is progressing in digitisation. Regarding connectivity to broadband networks, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark showed the highest overall connectivity levels.
Overall, the survey found that 58 percent of EU households can access 100 Mbps or more broadband, and 15 percent already use such speeds, twice as many as two years ago. Eight in ten have at least 30Mbps broadband, up from 76 percent last year, and a third subscribe to such speeds. Mobile broadband has reached 90 subscriptions per 100 people in the EU, and 4G networks cover on average 91 percent of the EU population (84% last year).
The survey also found that more and more Europeans use the internet to communicate. The highest increase in the use of internet services was phone and video calls: almost half of Europeans (46%) used the internet to make calls, an almost 20 percent increase compared to last year and more than 40 percent more than in 2013. Furthermore, 72 percent of internet users read news online, 65 percent used social networks, 68 percent shopped online and 61 percent used online banking.
In terms of human capital, 81 percent of Europeans go online regularly (at least once a week). This is 2 percentage points more than in the previous year. However, 43 percent of Europeans still do not have basic digital skills. Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden had the highest scores in this index component.
