Digital Quality of Life: Croatia Ranks 36th in the World, Down Five Places from Last Year

Surfshark’s fifth annual Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL), which ranks 121 countries based on their digital well-being across five categories, has placed Croatia at 36th in the world, down five places from last year. Of the five categories in the Index, Croatia performed best in e-security (16th place), while facing challenges in internet quality (68th place). It ranks 40th in e-infrastructure, 41st in internet accessibility, and 56th in e-government.

In the overall Index, Croatia lags behind Slovenia (35th), but has surpassed Serbia (50th). Overall, European countries lead the world in digital quality of life, with Croatia ranking 27th in the region.

– In many nations,’digital quality of life’ has merged into a broader concept of overall ‘quality of life’. There is no other way to view this now that so many daily activities, including work, education, and leisure, are conducted online. Therefore, it is crucial to identify areas where the digital quality of life of a nation is advancing and where attention is needed, which is the purpose of the DQL index – says Gabriele Racaityte-Krasauske, spokesperson for Surfshark.

Progress in Internet Speed

The quality of the internet in Croatia is six percent lower than the world average, reveals the DQL index. Fixed internet averages 102 Mbps in Croatia. For comparison, the fastest fixed internet in the world – Singapore’s – is 300 Mbps. Meanwhile, the slowest fixed internet in the world – Yemen’s – is 11 Mbps. Mobile internet averages 141 Mbps. The fastest mobile internet in the United Arab Emirates is 310 Mbps, while the slowest mobile internet in the world is in Venezuela, at just 10 Mbps.

Fortunately, since last year, mobile internet speed in Croatia has increased by 29 percent, while fixed broadband speed has increased by 37 percent. Compared to Slovenia, Croatian mobile internet is 52 percent faster, while fixed broadband access is 35 percent slower.

Compared to other countries, the internet is accessible in Croatia. Croatians need to work one hour and 52 minutes per month to afford fixed broadband internet. Although this is less than the average, it is six times more than in Romania, which has the most affordable fixed internet in the world. To afford it, Romanians need to work 18 minutes per month.

Croatians need to work 55 minutes and 10 seconds per month to afford mobile internet. This is three times more than in Luxembourg, which has the most favorable mobile internet in the world. Luxembourgers need to work 16 minutes per month to afford it.

Globally, the internet is more accessible than last year. Fixed internet is 11 percent more accessible than last year, meaning that on average, people need to work 42 minutes less per month to afford it. Mobile internet is 26 percent more accessible than last year – people need to work 41 minutes less to afford it.

Decline in Digital Security

Croatia ranks 16th in the world in e-security, which is two places lower than last year. The e-security category measures how well a country is prepared to combat cybercrime, as well as how advanced its data protection laws are. In this pillar, Croatia is better than Slovenia (28th) and Serbia (38th). In a global context, Croatia is prepared to fight cybercrime, and as an EU member subject to GDPR, it has excellent data protection laws.

Additionally, Croatia ranks 40th in e-infrastructure and 56th in e-government. Advanced e-infrastructure facilitates internet use for various daily activities, such as work, learning, and shopping. This category assesses how high the internet penetration is in a given country, as well as its network readiness, or readiness to leverage information and communication technologies. Internet penetration in Croatia is high – 93 percent, ranking 29th in the world – and Croatia is 43rd in network readiness.

The e-government category shows how advanced government digital services are and the level of readiness for artificial intelligence (AI) that the country demonstrates. Croatia’s e-government is above the world average.