Facebook Inclusive Internet Index

The Economist Intelligence Unit along with Facebook recently released the Inclusive Internet Index. According to the index, India is at the 49^th spot when it comes to internet inclusion and gender equality in accessing the internet.

The Facebook Inclusive Internet Index looked at 120 countries. These countries represented 96% of global population and 98% of global GDP.

Key findings

• Along with India, Thailand was also at the 49^th
• As of 2020, there were 687.6 million internet users in India. The number of internet users in India is set to reach one billion by 2025.
• Around 77 of the 120 countries showed improvement in internet inclusion.
• People in low-income and lower-middle-income countries relied on online education more than the high-income countries during the pandemic.
• The school children in lower-middle income countries and low-income countries lost sixteen weeks of schooling by October 2020 due lower internet access as compared to loss of six weeks in high-income countries.
• Sweden ranked first in the ranking followed by US and Spain. In Inclusive Internet Index, 2020, the US was ranked first followed by Sweden and New Zealand.

About Rankings

The rankings were done based on availability, affordability, relevance and readiness of internet. Based on availability of internet India was ranked 77^th. Based on affordability of internet, India was ranked 20^th. Based on relevance, India was ranked 49^th. Based on readiness to access the internet, India was ranked 29^th.

India was ranked at 52^nd on Inclusive Internet Index, 2020.

Economic Intelligence Unit

It is the research and analysis division of economist group based in London. It provides advisory services such as five year country economic forecasts, monthly country reports and industry reports.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2021