The third annual edition of the Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) placed Nigeria 82nd out of 110 countries.
South Africa ranks 68th, Kenya 79th.
Compared to last year, Nigeria has dropped 1 in the DQL ranking but is still the best in West Africa.
The DQL study, which covers 90% of the world’s population, is carried out by cybersecurity firm Surfshark and ranks countries based on five fundamental pillars of digital wellbeing.
Nigeria lags behind in internet affordability (107th), e-government (95th) and e-infrastructure (90th), but shows similar results to the global average scores for internet quality (56th) and e-safety ( 46.).The top 10 countries with the best in digital life
Despite the slight decrease in the ranking, Nigeria ranks first in West Africa and shows slightly better results than the global average in some columns.
Its e-Security is one of the TOP 50 worldwide and thus surpasses Africa’s DQL leader South Africa.
The country ranks 56th in the Internet Quality Index due to its low Internet speeds.
The country has one of the slowest broadband speeds in the world (13.45 Mbit / s) in 105th place and slightly faster mobile internet (17.91 Mbit / s) in 96th place.
However, the country’s broadband speed growth is one of the fastest in the world, ranking 16th.
The study shows that the affordability of the Internet in Nigeria is 90% worse than the global average. People in Nigeria have to work most of the world – more than 35 hours – to get the cheapest broadband internet.
The country’s e-government does not make it into the TOP 90 either, falling behind Senegal, Morocco and Tanzania.
“Digital opportunities have proven more important than ever during the COVID-19 crisis, underscoring the importance of every country ensuring their economies have completely remote operating capabilities,” said Vytautas Kaziukonis, CEO of Surfshark.
“Therefore, for the third year in a row, we are continuing research on digital quality of life, which offers a robust global outlook on how countries are digitally dominating. The index forms the basis for meaningful discussions about how digital progress is affecting a country’s prosperity and where improvements can be made. “
In total, 6 out of 10 countries with the highest values are in Europe, following the trend of last year. Denmark ranks first in the DQL for the second year in a row, closely followed by South Korea. Finland ranks 3rd, while Israel and the US round out the top 5 of 110 nations rated. The bottom 5 countries are Ethiopia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Guatemala, and Angola.
Regionally, the USA stands out as the country with the highest digital quality of life in America, while South Korea takes the leading position in Asia.
Among the African countries, the people in South Africa enjoy the highest quality of their digital life.
Australia leads the way in Oceania and outperforms New Zealand in various digital areas.
Other key findings of the report are:
Broadband is less affordable worldwide this year. Comparing countries included in both DQL20 and DQL21, people will have to work 11% more (25 minutes more) in 2021 to be able to afford broadband internet.
However, this year people will have to work 29% less (28 minutes less) in order to be able to afford mobile internet.
The worst internet in the world is the least affordable. In some countries like Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire and Mali, people need about a week of work to be able to afford the internet.
Investing in electronic infrastructure and administration is what contributes most to people’s digital wellbeing.
DQL Research 2021 examined a total population of more than 6.9 billion people in terms of five core pillars and 14 underpinning indicators that provide a comprehensive measure. The study is based on open source information from the United Nations, the World Bank, Freedom House, the International Communications Union, and other sources.
Read the full report here:
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