Surfshark’s 5th annual Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) ranks Uganda 107th in the world, dropping by nine places from last year. Out of the Index’s 5 pillars, Uganda performed best in e-security, claiming 81st place, while facing challenges in internet affordability, ranking 116th. The nation ranks 99th in e-government, 108th in internet quality, and 112th in e-infrastructure. In the overall Index, Uganda surpasses Tanzania (113th) but lags behind Kenya (76th). Overall, African countries lag behind in their digital quality of life, with Uganda taking 14th place in the region.
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“It’s troubling to see that Uganda ranks so low 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.
Uganda’s internet quality is 30% lower than the global average.
- Fixed internet averages 20 Mbps in Uganda. 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 35 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 Tanzania, Uganda’s mobile internet is 38% faster, while fixed broadband is 8% slower. Since last year, mobile internet speed in Uganda has improved by 70%, while fixed broadband speed has grown by 23%.
The internet is highly unaffordable in Uganda compared to other countries.
- Ugandans have to work 33 hours 39 minutes a month to afford fixed broadband internet. It is 113 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).
- Ugandans have to work 4 hours 16 minutes 54 seconds a month to afford mobile internet. This is 16 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).
Uganda is 81st in the world in e-security — 15 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. Uganda outperforms Tanzania, which ranks 114th, but lags behind Kenya, which takes 65th place in the e-security pillar. Uganda is unprepared to fight against cybercrime, the country has very low data protection laws.
Uganda is 112th in e-infrastructure and 99th 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). Uganda’s internet penetration is low (39% — 111th in the world), and the country ranks 113th 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. Uganda’s e-government is below 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.
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