India has been ranked 49th out of 120 countries in the ‘Inclusive Internet Index 2021’ released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in partnership with Facebook. India shares its rank with Thailand.
- The Top 3 countries are – Sweden, United States, Spain.
- The 120 countries which have been covered in the report represent 98% of Global GDP & 96% of Global Population.
- The report is commissioned by Facebook and conducted by EIU ranks countries based on Internet availability, affordability, relevance and readiness of people to use it.
Note- India Ranked at 52nd Position in 2020.
| Rank | Country |
|---|---|
| 49 | India |
| 1 | Sweden |
| 2 | United States |
| 3 | Spain |
Fact
India is set to reach one Billion internet users by 2025. There were around 687.6 Million internet users in India in 2020.
Key Points
i.The overall ranking of countries is based on 4 parameters – Availability, Affordability, Relevance and Readiness categories.
- India took 77th Position in Availability, 20th Position in Affordability, 49th Position in Relevance & 29th Position in Readiness category.
ii.India’s ranking is due to its low performance in Internet Inclusion & widening gender gap in mobile phone and internet access.
iii.Major of Countries (77 out of 120) recorded an overall improvement in Internet Inclusion.
iv.During pandemic, due to low internet access and adoption school children in low and lower-middle-income countries lost 16 weeks of schooling (by October 2020) compared to 6 weeks of loss by schoolchildren in high-income countries.
Recent Related News:
i.August 20, 2020, In accordance with the 2nd edition of global research “Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index 2020” released by online privacy solutions provider SurfShark, India ranked 57th out of 85 countries in terms of overall category.
About Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU):
Managing Director (CEO) – Robin Bew
Headquarters – London, United Kingdom
About Facebook:
Founder, Chairman & CEO – Mark Zuckerberg
Headquarters – California, USA