Germany in 14th place: Digitalization is catching up, but there are many hurdles!

Germany in 14th place: Digitalization is catching up, but there are many hurdles!

Germany has made small but noticeable progress in the digital arena. According to the current evaluation of the Bitkom DESI index, the country is now in 14th place among the 27 EU member states, which means an increase of two places compared to the previous year. In 2021 and 2022, Germany was even able to reach places 12 and 13. Bitkom reports that these rankings are based on a comprehensive comparison of digitalization progress within the EU.

For comparison: Finland is at the top of the ranking, followed by Denmark, the Netherlands, Malta and Sweden. At the other end of the table are Bulgaria, Greece and Romania. This data comes from the comprehensive DESI reports, which monitor EU member states' progress in the digital domain. In addition to the general rankings, the index also highlights specific areas in which Germany has achieved different rankings.

Strong ranking in some areas

In the digital economy segment, Germany ranks 8th and is also impressive in terms of network quality (9th place). However, there are also challenges: Germany only ranks 15th when it comes to digital skills, with only 20% of the population considered to be above-average competent in information and communication technologies. There is an urgent need to catch up in order to further advance the digital transformation of companies, in which Germany has also reached 8th place.

Another critical point is digital administration, where Germany only falls to 21st place. This could be seen as somewhat worrying as only 38% of relevant forms are pre-filled, while the EU average is 71%. The use of digital administrative services stagnates at 64%, which is over 10 percentage points below the EU average. Bitkom is demanding a clear roadmap for improvement from the federal government.

The digital roadmap for the future

In order to advance digitalization in the country, Bitkom is calling for, among other things, a de-bureaucratization of processes, the encouragement of investments and the reduction of energy costs for the digital economy. A particularly striking proposal is the abolition of the written form requirement and the legal anchoring of the once-only principle in order to reduce bureaucratic hurdles and make it easier for citizens to access digital services.

In the area of ​​digital infrastructure, Germany scores with 99% of households covered by 5G and 78% having access to gigabit connections. However, there is still room for improvement here, as only 6% of the population uses these fast connections. The investments in digital infrastructure seem to be paying off, but as the DESI index shows, there is still a lot to be done.

The COVID-19 pandemic has at least shown that countries have been able to significantly accelerate their digitalization efforts. After crisis mode, these efforts must now be translated into sustainable progress. The EU has also made available 127 billion euros for digital reforms, a large part of which will flow into national recovery and resilience plans. On average, Member States have allocated 26% of their resources to digital transformation, including Germany and some other innovation countries such as Austria and Luxembourg.

In conclusion, although Germany is on the right track and has made considerable progress in some areas, it still faces major challenges. The goal remains clear: digitalization must be accelerated and made more accessible to everyone so that Germany does not fall behind in European comparison.