• Country’s internet affordability index improved by 40% but its electronic security index decreased by 49%.
• UAE’s electronic security is around 70% worse than the global average – it ranks 105th out of 110 in the world.
• In internet affordability, UAE is only around 10% better than the global average, people have to work 3.5 minutes to afford the cheapest 1GB mobile data package.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has dropped down by 11 places since last year to rank 42nd, surpassed Saudi Arabia but fell behind Qatar, in the third edition of the Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) 2021 study.

DQL index, conducted by Surfshark, a cybersecurity company, is calculated by looking at the impact of five core pillars – internet affordability, internet quality, e-infrastructure, e-security and e-government.

The UAE excels in three, specifically internet quality (ranks 2nd), e-government (13th), and e-infrastructure (20th) but displays comparatively low results in internet affordability (34th), and e-security (105th).

The country’s internet affordability index improved by 40 per cent but its electronic security index decreased by 49 per cent.

The UAE’s electronic security is around 70 per cent worse than the global average – it ranks 105th out of 110 in the world.

On the positive side, the country is one of the world’s leaders in internet quality, second behind South Korea.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, its mobile speed has improved by 143 per cent and is now 145.46Mbps.

The UAE shows mediocre results in internet affordability – it is only around 10 per cent better than the global average. 

In the internet affordability space, Denmark is ranked first globally, followed by Israel and Sri Lanka.

People in the Emirate have to work 3.5 minutes to afford the cheapest 1GB mobile data package.

For comparison, people in neighbouring Oman have to work 4 times less (54 s/month).

Denmark leads for second year

Vytautas Kaziukonis, CEO of Surfshark, said that 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.

“The index sets the basis for meaningful discussions about how digital advancement impacts a country’s prosperity and where improvements can be made,” he said.

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 first for the second year in a row and is closely followed by South Korea.

Finland ranks third, while Israel and the US round out the top five of 110 nations that were evaluated.

The bottom 5 countries are Ethiopia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Guatemala, and Angola.

Regionally, the US 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.