The World Bank’s latest “Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023” reveals a persistent global disparity in digital access, underlining a growing development gap.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the world witnessed a remarkable surge in digital transformation, marked by increased data traffic, app utilization, IT sector expansion, and heightened digital business resilience.
Despite these advancements, the report emphasizes that low-income countries experienced insufficient progress, with only one in four individuals able to access the Internet.
Disparities in internet speed, data traffic, and digital utilization hindered advancements for individuals and firms in low- and middle-income nations. Notably, during the pandemic, the use of digital technologies led to a data traffic spike, primarily driven by video streaming.
The report underscores significant disparities between low- and high-income countries, with mobile broadband traffic per capita in richer nations surpassing that in low-income countries by a staggering 20 times.
Fixed broadband traffic exhibited an even more substantial gap, exceeding 1,700 times. In 2023, median fixed and mobile broadband speeds were five to 10 times faster in high-income countries than in their low-income counterparts.
The report highlights persistent challenges such as high prices for the poor, with median fixed broadband prices in low-income countries accounting for one-third of monthly income in 2022.
The cost of the cheapest smartphone equated to over 14% of annual income for individuals living on less than two dollars a day, and connectivity remained most expensive in Africa.
The report identifies digitalization as a catalyst for economic growth, employment, and resilience, noting that the information technology services sector grew nearly twice as fast as the global economy between 2000 and 2022.
Axel van Trotsenburg, Senior Managing Director at the World Bank, emphasizes that digitalization is a transformative opportunity, but accessibility is crucial.
Trotsenburg asserts that without internet access and digital skills, individuals are essentially excluded from the modern world, impacting critical services such as healthcare, education, energy infrastructure, and agriculture.
Guangzhe Chen, Vice-President for Infrastructure at the World Bank, stresses the need to closely measure digital progress globally and calls for intensified efforts to bridge the digital divide.
