Surfshark analyzed and ranked 65 countries which represent over 70% of global population, or around 5.5 billion people.

1. 2019
Global research of 65 countries’
digital quality of life.
Digital Quality of Life

2. 35%
2018
14%
2010
Global social media
penetration
6 42
HOURS MINUTES
Average hours spent
online daily
51%
2018
29%
2010
Global internet
penetration
Over half of the entire population is using the internet,
and more social interactions happen in the digital sphere.
Our Lives Are Profoundly A!ected
by Our Digital Well-Being

3. Internet
speed
Entertainment
content
availability
E-government
availability
Personal data
protection laws
Global
Cybersecurity
index
Internet
affordability
The first-ever study of the Digital Quality
of Life (DQL) attempts to critically assess
and compare our digital experiences
globally. It all comes down to the 6
ultimate criteria.
How To Measure Our
Digital Well-Being

4. Singapore
0.7854 3
6th
0.1123CYBERSECURITY OF A COUNTRY
middle tier
0.1016CONTENT AVAILABILITY
top tier
0.1667DATA PROTECTION
2nd
0.1541E-GOVERNMENT SERVICES AVAILABILITY
12th
0.0227MOBILE AFFORDABILITY
15th
0.0291BROADBAND AFFORDABILITY
1st
0.1144BROADBAND SPEED
7th
0.0847MOBILE SPEED
France
0.7985 2
3rd
0.1148CYBERSECURITY OF A COUNTRY
top tier
0.1354CONTENT AVAILABILITY
top tier
0.1667DATA PROTECTION
4th
0.1530E-GOVERNMENT SERVICES AVAILABILITY
5th
0.0443MOBILE AFFORDABILITY
4th
0.0543BROADBAND AFFORDABILITY
11th
0.0620BROADBAND SPEED
19th
0.0681MOBILE SPEED
11th
0.1113CYBERSECURITY OF A COUNTRY
top tier
0.1354CONTENT AVAILABILITY
top tier
0.1667DATA PROTECTION
7th
0.1519E-GOVERNMENT SERVICES AVAILABILITY
1st
0.0938MOBILE AFFORDABILITY
14th
0.0310BROADBAND AFFORDABILITY
42nd
0.0199BROADBAND SPEED
6th
0.0893MOBILE SPEED
Australia
0.7992 1
Out of 65 countries, covering a population of approximately 5.5 billion in every major region of the world.
Top 3 Countries with the Highest Digital Quality of Life in 2019

5. China was included in the report, but it's a special case. Please read more about it in the full report.
64
0.2328
Ethiopia
65
0.1865
Algeria
56
0.4740
Morocco
57
0.4604
Indonesia
58
0.4265
Thailand
59
0.4079
Nepal
60
0.3956
Ecuador
61
0.3192
Pakistan
62
0.3010
Egypt
63
0.2915
Iraq
52
0.5002
Brazil
53
0.4967
Argentina
54
0.4903
Armenia
55
0.4821
Iran
40
0.5738
South Africa
41
0.5727
Malaysia
42
0.5702
Uruguay
43
0.5639
Ukraine
44
0.5624
Chile
45
0.5598
Czech Republic
46
0.5564
Albania
47
0.5548
China
48
0.5534
Greece
49
0.5499
Georgia
50
0.5312
Azerbaijan
51
0.5252
Philippines
28
0.6431
Estonia
29
0.6302
Slovenia
30
0.6242
Ireland
31
0.6215
United Arab Emirates
32
0.6165
India
33
0.6110
Romania
34
0.6057
Qatar
35
0.6049
Turkey
36
0.5867
Slovakia
37
0.5846
Mexico
38
0.5832
Croatia
39
0.5791
Latvia
16
0.7045
Iceland
17
0.7035
United Kingdom
18
0.7033
Finland
19
0.6914
Germany
20
0.6872
New Zealand
21
0.6690
Belgium
22
0.6687
Austria
23
0.6553
Lithuania
24
0.6529
Hungary
25
0.6478
Portugal
26
0.6442
Poland
27
0.6439
Russia
4
0.7607
Norway
5
0.7606
Japan
6
0.7516
Canada
7
0.7479
Denmark
8
0.7448
South Korea
9
0.7361
Italy
10
0.7360
Sweden
11
0.7341
United States
12
0.7331
Netherlands
13
0.7269
Israel
14
0.7223
Switzerland
15
0.7061
Spain
The Rest of DQL 2019 Index Results

6. Global Leaders by Specific Factors
First place 1 Second place 2 Third place 3
Iceland
Singapore
Australia
Israel
Denmark
United Kingdom
Norway
Iceland
Israel
Japan
Singapore
United States
Canada
South Korea
India
Italy
United States
France
Mobile internet speed
Broadband internet speed
Mobile internet affordability
Broadband internet affordability
E-government availability
Global Cybersecurity index

7. The Surprisers
Lower GDP/capita correlates with lower DQL score. However, a few of the countries are
overpe!orming in some important digital fields. Namely, Hungary, Portugal, Poland,
Russia, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, India, Romania, and Turkey.
Mean of GDP/capita $Mean of DQLThe leadersThe surprisersThe underperformers
20 000 40 000 60 000 80 000
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
0
DigitalQualityofLife
GDP/capita $
DZ
ET
IQEG
PK
ECNP
TH
ID
MA
AM IR
BR
PH AZ
GE
ALUA ZA
CN
MYMX HR
CL UY
LV SK
GR CS
AR
IN
TR
RO
RU PL
HU LT
EE PT
SI
ES
KR IT
FR
JP
IL
GB
AE
BE AT
NZ DE FI
CA
NL SE
DK
AU
SG
US
QA
IE
IS
NO
CH

8. 62 out of 65 countries
have data protection laws
or their drafts in place.
However, in many cases,
the apparent commitment
to protect personal data is
illusory.
Investment in mobile
internet is the key
ingredient ensuring the
sustainable improvement
of the digital quality of life
in the long run, especially
in developing economies.
Well-developed internet
infrastructure ≠ high DQL
as a composition of less
tangible factors
(cybersecurity, personal
data protection, etc.) is
essential as well.
Digital quality of life
correlates with the
country’s GDP/capita. An
increase of 0.0300 in the
DQL score can potentially
add up to $10 thousand to
a country’s GDP/capita.
Plenty of room for
improvement. The median
value of the 2019 DQL
index is 0.6110/1.000,
which reveals that the
overall digital quality of
life is mediocre. No
country scored over
0.8000, indicating
drawbacks in various
areas.
5 Key Global Takeaways

9. Singapore
Broadband
speed
Iceland
Mobile
speed
USA
Content
availability
France
Data protection
laws
Australia
Mobile
affordability
Israel
Broadband
affordability
UK
Cybersecurity
of a country
Denmark
E-government
services
availability
How a Pe!ect DQL Country Would Look in 2019

10. The composite factors of the index were determined by an expert panel from Surfshark,
Chip.de, Comparitech.com, Journaldugeek.com, Tomshardware.de, Technadu.com,
Vpngids.nl, Top10vpn.com, Bestvpn.co, and Vpnranks.com.
To measure the quality of our digital lives, data covering various aspects of online
experience was gathered from the United Nations, Freedom House, World Bank,
International Telecommunications Union, and other databases.

11. dql@surfshark.com
Questions about the 2019 DQL Report
dom@surfsharkpress.com
General inquiries
gabrielle@surfsharkpress.com
Research inquiries
Surfshark Ltd.
Wickhams Cay I,Road Town,
Tortola,British Virgin Islands www.surfshark.com
Official website
Read the FULL report HERE or contact us
for more questions.
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