Croatia no.1 for digital skills among youth in EU

16 July 2020 – Among EU Member States, Croatia had the highest share of individuals aged 16 to 24 with basic or above basic overall digital skills, according to data released by Eurostat.

The European Commission’s Statistical Office published the results on World Youth Skills Day and it showed Croatia led the way in the EU with 97% of people aged 16 to 24 in the country having basic or above basic overall digital skills.

Estonia was next with 93%, followed by Lithuania and the Netherlands, who also scored 93%. Greece was next best with 92%.

By contrast, the lowest shares were observed in Romania (56%), Bulgaria (58%), Italy (65%), Hungary (68%), Latvia and Luxembourg (both 75%).

In 2019, four in five young people (80%) aged 16 to 24 in the European Union (EU) had basic or above basic digital skills. This was 24 percentage points (pp) higher than the share of individuals aged 16 to 74 (56%).

(Eurostat)

The basic or above basic overall digital skills represent the two highest levels of the overall digital skills indicator, which is a composite indicator based on selected activities performed by individuals on the internet in the four specific areas (information, communication, problem-solving, software). It is assumed that individuals having performed certain activities have the corresponding skills; therefore, the indicator can be considered as a proxy of the digital competences and skills of individuals, Eurostat said.

Over recent months, many young people (aged 16-24) have had to follow online classes, as lockdown measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have prevented their schools, universities or other vocational and training institutions from running face-to-face teaching.