Internet users’ digital skills are uneven, with communication and collaboration skills being most widespread
Given that self-reporting may be subjective, digital skills[1] are measured based on whether an individual has recently performed certain activities that presuppose a degree of proficiency in the relevant skills. Digital skills are grouped into five categories: communication and collaboration; problem solving; safety; digital content creation; and information and data literacy.
While the importance of digital skills for economic and social development is well-documented, data remains scant. Only 73 countries have submitted data on digital skills since 2023, with very few countries reporting for all skill areas. Of those countries that have reported, 54 provided comparable data on digital skill levels and 22 provided data on overall skill levels (see methodology for calculating digital skill levels, below).
Despite these gaps, some patterns emerge. Internet users consistently perform well in communication and collaboration. In all countries reporting data for this area, at least four out of five Internet users have at least basic skills in this area, with the share exceeding 90 per cent in most countries, regardless of national Internet usage levels.
Skill levels in other areas vary more widely. In countries providing data, the share of Internet users with at least basic skills in information and data literacy tends to be higher than in the remaining three areas. Substantial variation persists across all skill areas, even among countries with similar levels of Internet use.
For the 22 countries reporting overall digital skill levels, the share of Internet users with at least basic skills in all five skill areas ranges from 1 to 79 per cent. These countries generally have high levels of Internet use (median 95 per cent), limiting the representativeness of the findings. Nevertheless, the data reveals substantial differences in digital skills. In most countries, nearly all users have at least basic skills in at least two skill areas (median 96 per cent). However, many Internet users lack well-rounded digital skills. Fewer users have at least basic skills in all five areas (median 60 per cent). In only two of the 22 countries do more than half of Internet users have above basic skills in all areas.
Methodology for calculating ICT skill levels
At its 11th meeting in September 2023, the ITU
Expert Group on ICT Household Indicators (EGH)
recommended changes
to the reporting of data on ICT skill levels and most importantly, that individuals’ skill levels should be assessed for different areas.
Individuals should be assessed on the number of activities within a skill area they report having done in the last three months using the following progression:
- Skill levels should not be assessed in skill areas where data are reported for one or no activities.
- Activities should be weighted equally within each skill area.
- Skill areas with different numbers of components should be treated equally.
To measure overall skill levels, an individual is classified as having basic digital skills if they report having performed at least one activity in each of the five skill areas, and as having above basic digital skills if they performed two or more activities in each area. While this recommendation does not require any additional data collection, it does require that countries perform additional analysis on existing survey microdata. Through 2025, 48 countries have provided data, including eight which also provided data on overall skill levels. However, other countries were unable to provide skill level data, even though in many cases sufficient data on the underlying activities had been collected. It is expected that data availability will improve as familiarity with these new recommendations increases.
[1] The term ICT skills, used in previous publications, has been replaced by Digital skills.