By : Mohamed Shawky

The third annual edition of the Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) ranks Egypt 101st among 110 countries.

Covering 90% of the global population, the DQL study is conducted by the cybersecurity company Surfshark and evaluates countries based on a set of five fundamental digital wellbeing pillars. Joining the study for the first time, Egypt shows comparatively mediocre scores in internet affordability (73rd), internet quality (78th), e-infrastructure (92nd), e-security (106th) and e-government (76th).

Regionally, Egypt ranks 14th in Africa, surpassed by neighboring Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. The country ranks 16th in mobile internet stability and 22nd in mobile internet affordability. People in Egypt have to work only 1 minute 6 seconds to afford the cheapest 1 GB of mobile internet, almost 9 times less than the global average. However, the digital quality of life in Egypt has room to improve, as it is 30% worse than the global average. 

The research shows that e-security in Egypt lacks some improvement. The country ranks the lowest among Northern African countries. The country ranks on the lower end due to the lack of data protection laws. There’s room for improvement in e-infrastructure as well. The study found that only around 53% of people use the internet in Egypt, ranking only 96th globally in this criteria. Compared to neighboring Jordan, Egypt’s e-infrastructure and e-security ranks are lower and its broadband internet is 2 times slower.

“Digital opportunities have proved to be more important than ever during the COVID-19 crisis, stressing the importance for every country to ensure fully remote operational capacities for their economies,” – explains Vytautas Kaziukonis, CEO of Surfshark. “That is why, for the third year in a row, we continue the Digital Quality of Life 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, 6 out of 10 countries holding the highest scores are located in Europe, following last year’s trend. Denmark ranks 1st in DQL for the second year in a row and is closely followed by South Korea. Finland ranks 3rd, while Israel and the U.S. round out the top five of 110 nations that were evaluated. The bottom 5 countries are Ethiopia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Guatemala, and Angola.

Regionally, the U.S. stands out as a country with the highest digital quality of life in the Americas, while South Korea takes the leading position in Asia. Among countries in Africa, people in South Africa enjoy the highest quality of their digital lives whereas Australia leads in Oceania, outperforming New Zealand in various digital areas.

Other significant findings of the report include:

• Broadband is globally less affordable this year. Comparing countries included in both DQL20 and DQL21, people have to work 11% more (25 min more) to afford broadband internet in 2021. However, people have to work 29% less (28 min less) to afford mobile internet this year.

• The world’s worst internet is the least affordable. People in some countries, such as Nigeria, Côte D'Ivoire and Mali require approximately a week’s worth of work to afford the internet.
• Investing in electronic infrastructure and electronic government contributes to people’s digital wellbeing the most. 

The 2021 DQL research 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 provided by the United Nations, the World Bank, Freedom House, the International Communications Union, and other sources. 

The final 2021 Digital Quality of Life report and an interactive country comparison tool can be found here: https://www.surfshark.com/dql2021. 

NOTES TO EDITORS

Surfshark, a Gold winner at 2021 Cybersecurity Excellence awards as a Most Innovative Security Service of the Year, is a privacy protection toolset developed to provide its users with the ability to control their online presence seamlessly. The core premise of Surfshark is to humanize online privacy protection and develop tools that protect

with leading industry leaders. The collaboration between Moro Hub and NetApp offers a unique contribution to the digital landscape in the UAE users' privacy beyond the realm of a virtual private network. Surfshark is one of very few VPNs which have been audited by independent security experts.

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