Study reveals South Africa’s global ranking for Digital Quality of Life

A ranking by cybersecurity company Surfshark 2021 has revealed the global and regional position of South Africa when it comes to digital quality of life.

South Africa has ranked 68th out of 110 countries in Surfshark’s 2021 Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL), but ranked the first in Africa.

The third annual edition of the DQL showed the country dropped nine spots since 2020.

This was due to factors such as mobile affordability and internet stability.

“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,” Surfshark CEO, Vytautas Kaziukonis, said in a statement.

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

The DQL includes information provided by the United Nations, Freedom House, and the World Bank among other international sources.

It examined a total world population of more than 6.9 billion people for its findings.

South Africa’s Digital Quality of Life explained

According to the study, South Africa has an index score of 0.49, the highest out of 18 African countries included in the survey.

South Africa’s global ranking dropped nine spots compared to the previous year.

The second highest-ranked African country was Mauritius with a ranking index of 0.48. The index puts the country in 74th place globally.

In 2021, the survey noted South Africans have to work one hour and 38 minutes to afford the cheapest internet package and 59 seconds to afford the cheapest 1GB of mobile internet data. This is three minutes less than what the work duration was in 2020.

To compare globally, people have to work for approximately ten minutes on average to afford 1GB of mobile internet data.

South Africa’s best criteria rankings include mobile internet stability (7th), mobile affordability (21st), and broadband internet affordability (24th).

However, the country still ranks low in cybersecurity in 95th place globally. In that regard, other African countries such as Kenya, Algeria, and Nigeria surpass it.

South Africa also ranks low in the number of internet users nationally (91st), and broadband speed growth (80th).

You can see the country’s full Digital Quality of Life profile for 2021 on the Surfshark website.

Read more: Information Regulator of South Africa concerned by breaches and ransomware attacks

Featured image: Unsplash/Emmanuel Ikwuegbu