The European Commission has published new data analysing and ranking how digital EU member states are. The Digital Economy and Society Index 2015 measures digital performance and competitiveness across five dimensions:

Broadband Connectivity (Availability, Quality, and Speed) Human Capital (Internet users, Basic digital skills, ICT specialists, and STEM graduates) Internet Use (Content, Communication, and Transactions) Technological Integration (Digitisation of businesses and Utilisation of e-commerce) Digital Public Services (eGovernment and eHealth)

Performance by Country

Top performers include Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland which rank almost twice as high as the bottom performers Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy. Spain Hungary and the Czech Republic improved their ranking the most compared to the previous year, becoming more digital significantly faster than similarly ranked countries.

High Performing

Denmark: 65

Sweden: 63

Netherlands: 60

Fast Improving

Spain: +10%

Hungary: +10%

Czech Republic: +9%

EU Average: +6%

Low Performing

Greece: 31

Bulgaria: 29

Romania: 28

Key Findings

A majority of Europeans regularly use the internet. 81% of households have internet access and 65% of individuals use the internet every day.

SMEs face e-commerce barriers in Europe. 15% of SMEs sell online compared with 35% of large enterprises. 7% of SMEs sell across borders compared with 21% of large enterprises.

Availability of digital public services varies greatly across Europe. In Estonia, Denmark, Croatia and Sweden over 87% of general practitioners use electronic networks to transfer prescriptions to pharmacists. In Belgium, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, Portugal, Hungary, Slovenia, Lithuania, and Malta less than 5% of general practitioners transfer prescriptions digitally.