International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has released its ICT Development Index (IDI), which compares developments in information and communication technologies (ICTs) in 154 countries over a five-year period from 2002 to 2007, including some 2008 data. The Index combines 11 indicators into a single measure that can be used as a benchmarking tool globally, regionally, and at the country level. These are related to ICT access, use, and skills, such as households with a computer, the number of internet users, and literacy levels.

Country trends include the following: "The most advanced countries in ICT are from Northern Europe. The exception is the Republic of Korea. Sweden tops the new ITU ICT Development Index, followed by the Republic of Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Norway. They are followed by other, mainly high-income countries from Europe, Asia, and North America. [Economically] poor countries, in particular the least developed countries, remain at the lower end of the index with limited access to ICT infrastructure, including fixed and mobile telephony, internet, and broadband. The report finds that all countries (except one) have improved their ICT levels during the past five years, but some much more than others. Eastern Europe not only features high relative growth but also one of the highest IDI value gains and can thus be considered as the most dynamic region on ICT developments during this time period. Countries that were driving this process include the Baltic States and Romania. Other economies that have significantly improved their ICT levels are Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Macao (China), Japan, Italy, and France."

On a global level, the document shows that the most progress has been made on ICT access, which includes fixed and mobile telephony, internet bandwidth, and households with computers and internet. In terms of ICT use, which includes the number of internet users, fixed and mobile broadband, progress has been much slower. In particular, broadband (a more recent technology in this time period) is still not achieving widespread scale-up.

Though there is generally a close relationship between ICT level and gross domestic product (GDP) level indicated in the data, many of the economically poorer countries, in particular from Africa, rank further down in the IDI, with little change in ranking since 2002. However, "[s]ome developing countries... have moved up considerably in the Index over the five-year period, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, and Viet Nam. This is partly due to high mobile cellular growth, coupled with an increase in Internet users. China (Rank 73 in 2007 up from 90 in 2002), has made significant progress in increasing the number of fixed telephone lines and mobile subscriptions as well as fixed broadband during the past few years. The recent Government decision to issue IMT-2000/3G licenses by early 2009 and to restructure the market to increase competition in the wired and wireless services is likely to drive mobile broadband and further increase ICT uptake in other areas as well."


The end-2008 figures for key ICT indicators show a shift from fixed to mobile cellular telephony and by the end of 2008, there were over three times more mobile cellular subscriptions than fixed telephone lines globally. Two-thirds of those are now in the developing world compared with less than half in 2002. Based on ITU estimates, 23 out of 100 inhabitants globally used the internet at the end of 2008, though Africa has only 5 per cent penetration and even lower proliferation of broadband access. However, as stated here "there is a clear potential for mobile broadband to connect more and more people - and at higher speed." The data suggest that well-developed information societies have flatter growth, while "[l]ess mature, but reasonably advanced information societies grow strongly, thereby leaving behind those at the lower end of the scale."


The report examines user costs with ITU's "Price Basket" tool. "It ranks countries based on the relative price of the ICT services and thus measures and compares the affordability of services" by combining the average cost of fixed telephone, mobile cellular, and internet broadband. It compares 2008 ICT tariffs in 150 countries. As stated here, "[c]ountries with high income levels pay relatively little for ICT services, while countries with low income levels pay relatively more. This is often due to very high tariffs for fixed Internet broadband in some developing countries. Countries that rank at the very top of the ICT Price Basket include Singapore, the United States, Luxembourg, Denmark, Hong Kong (China), United Arab Emirates, Taiwan (China), Sweden, Norway and Finland. Given the income levels of those countries, they offer the most affordable ICT services globally, ranging between 0.4 and 0.6 per cent of monthly [gross national income] GNI per capita. In all of the top 25 countries, ICT services account for less than 1 per cent of monthly GNI. This compares to the bottom 25 countries, where the ICT Price Basket value ranges between 40 and 72 per cent of monthly GNI - which is a clear indicator that ICTs are unaffordable for the large majority of the people in those countries.....The Report also compares prices for each of the three technologies - fixed and mobile telephony and Internet broadband. A comparison of ICT levels and ICT prices suggests a strong link between the two.”

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ITU website accessed on May 4 2009.