‘Over half of Pakistan does not have access to internet’

ISLAMABAD: Over half of the country’s population does not have access to internet, but districts that perform better on digital transformation are also among the better performing areas in terms of human development, reve­als the first-ever Di­g­ital Develop­ment Index (DDI) report, released on Tuesday.

Prepared in the collaboration with the United Nati­ons Develo­pment Prog­r­a­mme (UNDP), the rep­ort is part of the National Hum­an Develo­pment Report 2024, which was laun­ched by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

The report placed the country in the ‘moderate’ category in terms of digital development and noted that women are underserved by digital development and 83.5pc of whom claimed their spouse or parents dictate their phone ownership.

According to the report, digital development in Pak­i­stan’s richest quintile was 15-fold greater than the po­o­­rest quintile, meaning that wealth is a huge mar­ker of the digital development.

First-ever Digital Development Index reveals over 80pc of women’s phones are ‘controlled’ by their parents or spouse

Islamabad is the district with ‘very high’ digital development, followed by Karachi, Lahore, Rawal­pindi, Peshawar, Haripur and Abbottabad in the ‘high’ category.

It showed a strong correlation between districts that perform better on digital transformation and those having the higher human development outcomes.

The country has a low Human Development Ind­ex rank of 164 out of 193 countries, coupled with a Gender Inequality Index position of 135 out of 166 countries.

The digital divi­des further exacerbate poor development outcomes, the report noted.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Iqbal claimed the government was committed to harnessing the benefits of technological innovation to improve livelihood prospects, accelerate financial inclusion, improve employment, and deliver efficient public services.

Recognizing digital acc­ess as a fundamental necessity in the modern era, akin to essential services like electricity, healthcare, and education, the minister stre­s­sed the government’s responsibility to bridge the digital divide across all regions.

UNDP Assistant Admin­i­strator and Regional Director Regional for Asia and the Pacific Kanni Wignaraja said that over 60pc of the population in Asia-Pacific was online, with women and marginalised groups being significantly underrepresented.

“Pakistan is the sixth largest contributor to the glo­b­al middle-class growth between 2022 to 2030, contributing 25 million,” she said.

“Targeted digital tran­s­formation efforts for this growing middle class could greatly improve the country’s productivity,” she said.

UNDP Pakistan Resi­dent Representative Dr Samuel Rizk said: “Our ambition is to contribute to a future-oriented Pakistan where digital transformation becomes a hallmark of its inclusion, and a cornerstone for its prosperity”.

The report highlighted that over half of Pakistan does not have access to internet because of inadequate digital infrastructure and affordability challenges and nearly half of the country’s districts have low DDI rankings. Without

equitable access to digital technology, the report noted, Pakistan’s human development outcomes will remain low and under-served.