Catalonia, leader in connectivity within the European Union

Catalonia continues to hold the first position in connectivity within the ranking of EU-28 countries, with an improvement of 5.4 points over the same indicator in 2019 and almost 16 points above the European average.

Furthermore, Catalonia also maintains its fifth position and consolidates itself as a digitally advanced and trailblazing state in Europe with a digitisation score of 64.75%, 12 points above the EU average (52.62%).

This is clear from the 'Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) Catalonia 2020', the second issue of the digital economy and society composite index that a year ago was calculated for the first time for Catalonia using the European Commission methodology.

Main indicators of the DESI Catalonia 2020

The 64.75% degree of digitisation obtained in the DESI Catalonia 2020 places the country only behind the Nordic countries that have historically led digital development in Europe: Finland (72.31%), Sweden (69.74) %), Denmark (69.15%) and the Netherlands (67.69%). And ahead of other leading countries such as Malta (62.70%), Ireland (61.79%), Estonia (61.07%) and the United Kingdom (60.41%).

Connectivity is the area where Catalonia shines: it leads the set of EU-28 states with a value of 65.89%, just above Denmark (65.82%). Thus, it remains in first place, with an improvement of 5.4 points over the same indicator in 2019 and almost 16 points above the European average (50.01%). In this area, what is especially noteworthy is jump of 8 positions that places Catalonia at the top of the list in the subdimension of fixed broadband implementation of at least 100 Mbps.

In terms of human capital, Catalonia shows an indicator of 66.5%, an improvement of almost 4 points over the previous year meaning it maintains its fourth position in Europe. Catalonia also stays ahead in terms of ICT graduates, while the Internet User Skills indicator has jumped four positions compared to last year.