Surfshark’s Digital Qality of Life Index (DQL) 2024 ranks South Africa 66th in the world – six places better than last year.
The Digital Quality of Life Index is an annual study that ranks 121 countries by their digital wellbeing based on five core pillars: internet quality, internet affordability, e-security, e-infrastructure, and e-government.
South Africa’s improvement in ranking, from 72nd to 66th, reflects a commitment to developing the digital landscape and 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, prioritising digital quality of life proved to be more important than ever,” says Tomas Stamulis, Surfshark’s chief security officer. “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.”
Out of the Index’s five pillars, South Africa performed best in Internet affordability, claiming 43rd place, but faced challenges in internet quality, ranking 84th. The nation ranks 56th in e-government, 75th in e-security, and 80th in e-infrastructure.
In the overall Index, South Africa surpasses Kenya (89th) and Nigeria (100th). Collectively, African countries lag behind in their digital quality of life, South Africa taking 1st place in the region.
SA ranks higher in e-government than 54% of the countries analysed
E-government determines how advanced and digitized a country’s government services are. A well-developed e-government helps minimise 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. South Africa ranks 56th in the world in e-government — five places higher than last year.
SA is 75th in the world in e-security — three places lower than 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.
South Africa lags behind Kenya, which ranks 69th, but outperforms Nigeria (76th) in the e-security pillar.
South Africa is unprepared to fight against cybercrime, although the country has some data protection laws.
SA’s internet quality is 15% lower than the global average
South Africa’s fixed Internet averages 79Mbps. 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.
South Africa’s mobile Internet averages 91Mbps. The fastest mobile Internet — the UAE’s — is 430Mbps, while the world’s slowest mobile Internet — Yemen’s — is 12Mbps.
Compared to Kenya, South Africa’s mobile internet is 74% faster, while fixed broadband is 252% faster. Since last year, mobile Internet speed in South Africa has improved by 34%, while fixed broadband speed has grown by 13%.
The Internet is comparatively affordable in SA
South Africans have to work 1 hour 34 minutes a month to afford fixed broadband Internet. While this is less than average, it is 7-times more than in Bulgaria, which has the world’s most affordable fixed Internet (Bulgarians have to work 14 minutes a month to afford it).
South Africans have to work 1 hour 5 minutes 8 seconds a month to afford mobile Internet. This is 7-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).
SA is 80th in e-infrastructure
Advanced e-infrastructure makes it easy for people to use the Internet for various daily activities, such as working, studying and shopping. 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).
South Africa’s internet penetration is moderate (75% — 80th in the world), and the country ranks 73rd in network readiness.
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.