Saudi Arabia first, Uzbekistan 88.8 points: world digital progress ranking announced

Saudi Arabia first, Uzbekistan 88.8 points: world digital progress ranking announced

Based on data from the International Telecommunication Union's 2026 ICT Development Index (IDI), Visual Capitalist compared the digital development of 159 economies. The index assesses how far countries have progressed toward "universal and meaningful digital connectivity."

The IDI consists of 10 indicators. It takes into account factors such as internet access and usage, communication network coverage, data consumption, and the cost of internet services for the population.

The highest result in the ranking was recorded in Saudi Arabia — 99.8 points. The country scored 100 points for universal connectivity and 99.6 points for meaningful connectivity.

Five of the top ten results belong to Middle Eastern economies. In addition to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain also occupied high positions.

In Europe, Estonia has the highest score with 98.5 points. Finland follows closely behind with 98.4 points. Denmark's result stood at 98.2 points.

In the Americas, the US leads with 97.9 points. Hong Kong and Singapore also scored 97.9 points each, while South Korea recorded 95.5 points and Malaysia 95.3 points.

There is a large gap between countries in the Arab States region. Although the region's average score is 78 points, the result in some economies is close to the maximum level, while in others it drops to 37 points. This shows that the availability of internet networks, their usage levels, and service costs can differ sharply even in neighboring countries.

In the Asia-Pacific region, the difference between the highest and lowest results reaches 62 points. Here, the level of urbanization, telecommunications infrastructure, and population incomes are the main factors.

Asia is also growing rapidly in terms of digital infrastructure, especially the construction of data centers. The expanded use of cloud technologies and artificial intelligence is attracting new investments to countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The global average IDI score is 79 points. 59 economies scored in the 90–100 point range, while 15 scored less than 50 points.

Income levels remain closely linked to digital development. The average score in low-income economies is 42 points, while in high-income countries it is 93 points.