OECD highlights the widening digital divide in new Digital Economy Outlook

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published its ‘Digital Economy Outlook’, in which it highlighted the impacts of COVID-19 on the digital divide between rich and poor countries. The study finds that OECD member states have double the subscriptions to high-speed mobile Internet per capita than non-members, and three times more broadband subscriptions. In addition, it also shed light on the digital divide within the OECD. Whereas 82% and 79% of broadband subscriptions are carried by high-speed fibre connections in South Korea and Japan, in Austria, Belgium, and Germany, to name but a few, it amounts to 5%. The report also underlines that as of June 2020, emerging 5G services were available in 22 OECD countries.