Romania’s digital wellbeing ranking declines with the biggest setback in internet quality

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The Digital Quality of Life Index is an annual study that ranks 121 countries by their digital wellbeing based on 5 core pillars: internet quality, internet affordability, e-security, e-infrastructure, and e-government
Surfshark’s Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) 2024 ranks Romania 16th in the world. The study indicates how well the country is performing in terms of overall digital wellbeing compared to other nations. Romania drops by two places from last year, which reflects a lack of commitment to developing the digital landscape and positioning the country as a leader in leveraging technological advancements to improve citizens’ quality of life.
“In an election year like 2024, where the digital realm shaped political discourse and societal values, prioritizing digital quality of life proved to be more important than ever. It helps to ensure informed citizens, protects democratic processes, and fosters innovation. Our annual project helps to better understand where each county stands in terms of digital divide, highlighting where a nation’s digital quality of life excels and where further focus is required,” says Tomas Stamulis, Chief Security Officer at Surfshark.
Out of the Index’s five pillars, Romania performed best in internet affordability, claiming 5th place, but faced challenges in e-government, ranking 72nd. The nation ranks 6th in e-security, 23rd in internet quality, and 48th in e-infrastructure. In the overall Index, Romania surpasses Bulgaria (18th) and Hungary (36th). Collectively, European countries lead the world in their digital quality of life, Romania taking 14th place in the region.
Romania ranks lower in e-government than 59% of the countries analyzed, with 71 countries above.
E-government determines how advanced and digitized a country’s government services are. A well-developed e-government helps minimize bureaucracy, reduce corruption, and increase transparency within the public sector. This pillar also shows the level of Artificial Intelligence (AI) readiness a country demonstrates. Countries with the highest readiness to adopt AI technology are also ready to counter national cyberthreats. Romania ranks 72nd in the world in e-government — ten places lower than last year.
Romania is 6th in the world in e-security — same as last year.
The e-security pillar measures how well a country is prepared to counter cybercrime and how advanced a country’s data protection laws are. In this pillar, Romania outperforms Bulgaria (22nd) and Hungary (24th). Romania is highly prepared to fight against cybercrime, and since it is a member of the EU and subject to the GDPR, the country has excellent data protection laws.
Romania’s internet quality is 24% higher than the global average.   
  • Romania’s fixed internet averages 287Mbps. To put that into perspective, the world’s fastest fixed internet — Singapore’s — is 347Mbps. Meanwhile, the slowest fixed internet in the world — Tunisia’s — is 14Mbps.

  • Romania’s mobile internet averages 96Mbps. The fastest mobile internet — the UAE’s — is 430Mbps, while the world’s slowest mobile internet — Yemen’s — is 12Mbps.

Compared to Bulgaria, Romania’s mobile internet is 56% slower, while fixed broadband is 109% faster. Since last year, mobile internet speed in Romania has improved by 24%, while fixed broadband speed has grown by 11%.
The internet is highly affordable in Romania compared to other countries.
  • Romanians have to work 16 minutes a month to afford fixed broadband internet. While this is less than average, it is 14% more than in Bulgaria, which has the world’s most affordable fixed internet (Bulgarians have to work 14 minutes a month to afford it).

  • Romanians have to work 1 hour 13 minutes 48 seconds a month to afford mobile internet. This is 8 times more than in Angola, which has the world’s most affordable mobile internet (Angolans have to work 9 minutes a month to afford it).

Romania is 48th in e-infrastructure.
Advanced e-infrastructure makes it easy for people to use the internet for various daily activities, such as working, studying, shopping, etc. This pillar evaluates how high internet penetration is in a given country, as well as its network readiness (readiness to take advantage of Information and Communication Technologies). Romania’s internet penetration is fairly high (89% — 43rd in the world), and the country ranks 50th in network readiness.
On a global scale, investing in e-government and e-infrastructure improves digital wellbeing the most
  • Among the five pillars, e-government has the strongest correlation with the DQL index (0.92), followed by e-infrastructure (0.91). 

  • Internet affordability shows the weakest correlation at 0.65.

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