Denmark has the 3rd best digital quality of life in the world, surpassing both Sweden and Norway

Cristina Blanaru Business, Digital & Media, ITC

Surfshark’s 5th annual Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) ranks Denmark 3rd in the world, dropping from last year’s 2nd place. Out of the Index’s 5 pillars, Denmark performed best in e-infrastructure, claiming 2nd place, while facing challenges in internet affordability, ranking 29th. The nation ranks 4th in internet quality, 5th in e-government, and 13th in e-security. In the overall Index, Denmark surpasses Sweden (11th) and Norway (26th). Overall, European countries lead the world in their digital quality of life, Denmark taking 3rd place in the region.

“It’s reassuring to see that Denmark ranks so well in the DQL Index. In many nations, “digital quality of life” has merged into the broader concept of overall “quality of life”. There’s no other way to look at it now that so many daily activities, including work, education, and leisure, are done online. That’s why it’s crucial to pinpoint the areas in which a nation’s digital quality of life thrives and where attention is needed, which is the precise purpose of the DQL Index”, says Gabriele Racaityte-Krasauske, Surfshark’s spokeswoman.

Denmark’s internet quality is 53% higher than the global average.

  • Fixed internet averages 261 Mbps in Denmark. To put that into perspective, the world’s fastest fixed internet — Singapore’s — is 300 Mbps. Meanwhile, the slowest fixed internet in the world — Yemen’s — is 11 Mbps.
  • Mobile internet averages 195 Mbps. The fastest mobile internet — the UAE’s — is 310 Mbps, while the world’s slowest mobile internet — Venezuela’s — is 10 Mbps.

Compared to Sweden, Denmark’s mobile internet is 15% faster, while fixed broadband is 34% faster. Since last year, mobile internet speed in Denmark has improved by 58%, while fixed broadband speed has grown by 14%.

The internet is highly affordable in Denmark compared to other countries.

  • Danes have to work 1 hour 8 minutes a month to afford fixed broadband internet. While this is less than average, it is 4 times more than in Romania, which has the world’s most affordable fixed internet (Romanians have to work 18 minutes a month to afford it).
  • Danes have to work 1 hour 36 seconds a month to afford mobile internet. This is 4 times more than in Luxembourg, which has the world’s most affordable mobile internet (Luxembourgers have to work 16 minutes a month to afford it).

Denmark is 13th in the world in e-security — 2 places lower than last year.

The e-security pillar measures how well a country is prepared to counter cybercrime, as well as how advanced a country’s data protection laws are. Denmark is tied with Sweden, which performs exactly the same in e-security, but outperforms Norway, which takes 24th place in this pillar. Denmark is highly prepared to fight against cybercrime, and since it is a member of the EU and subject to the GDPR, the country has excellent data protection laws.

Denmark is 2nd in e-infrastructure and 5th in e-government.

Advanced e-infrastructure makes it easy for people to use the internet for various daily activities, such as working, studying, shopping, etc. 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). Denmark’s internet penetration is high (98% — 11th in the world), and the country ranks 6th in network readiness.

The e-government pillar shows how advanced a government’s digital services are and the level of Artificial Intelligence (AI) readiness a country demonstrates. Denmark’s e-government is well above the global average.

Globally, the internet is more affordable than last year.

  • Fixed internet is 11% more affordable than last year — on average, people have to work 42 minutes less a month to afford it.
  • Mobile internet is 26% more affordable than last year — people have to work 41 minutes less to afford it.