The United Arab Emirates has been ranked among the world’s leading countries in various digital life indexes, attributable to the significant advancement of its information and communication technology sector, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) has determined.
In its report, titled "Digital Lifestyle in the UAE," the TDRA notes that, based on figures included in relevant international reports, the UAE ranked first globally in the use of social media; second globally and first in the Arab region in internet use; and ninth globally and first in the Arab region in e-commerce.
The report also notes that the UAE was the first country in the region to establish a digital government in 2001, promoting digitization as a lifestyle to be practiced by individuals and organizations to achieve the highest levels of efficiency.
In detail, the UAE was ranked first globally in terms of mobile internet speed, with the average speed in the country being 134.48 megabytes per second (Mbps) while the global average is 30 Mbps.
The report adds that the UAE was ranked 13th globally in terms of home internet speed, with the average speed in the country reaching 124.7 Mbps compared to the global average of 63.46 Mbps.
The country was also ranked second globally in internet usage at a rate of 99% compared to the global average of 62.5%, indicating that the number of internet users in the UAE is 9.935 million.
The UAE was ranked 12th globally in time spent using mobile internet at 4 hours and 35 minutes, compared to the global average of 3 hours and 43 minutes. The country was also ranked 11th globally in terms of time spent using standard internet.
The report highlights the fact that the UAE was ranked 10th globally in average time spent using the internet across all devices, whether computers or mobile phones, with an average of 8 hours and 36 minutes, compared to the global average of 6 hours and 58 minutes.
The report further shows that the UAE was ranked first globally in average time spent on social media per capita at 106%, compared to the global average of 58.4%. The UAE also surpassed the global rate of population engagement in social media by 200%.
The report points out that the UAE was among the top 20 countries in the use of digital videos as a source of learning at 50%, and it was ranked among the top 10 countries in terms of the digital sharing of visual blogs at 27.6%.
With regard to entertainment, the UAE was ranked among the top 10 countries in e-gaming at 90% while regarding the economy, the country was ranked among the top 10 countries in the percentage of the population possessing cryptocurrencies at 11.4%. The UAE was also ranked among the top 20 countries globally in terms of the percentage of the population undergoing telemedicine at a rate of 26.4%.In e-commerce, UAE was ranked ninth globally, with the average annual per capita share of digital spending in the country being some $3,775, compared to the global average of $1,766.
Furthermore, the UAE was ranked 14th globally in online weekly purchases, with 59% of the population buying their needs online each week, and it was ranked 13th in weekly online purchases using mobile phones, with 32.4% of the UAE population using their phones to buy their needs weekly.
UAE ranked among the top 20 countries in terms of digital content, with 68.1% of the population buying miscellaneous digital content on the internet. It was ranked ninth globally in weekly household food purchases, with 33.4% of the UAE population buying their food needs online each week.
The UAE was ranked 12th globally in time spent on social media at 4 hours and 35 minutes and was ranked 11th globally in average number of social media platforms used. Moreover, the country was ranked among the top 20 in terms of using social media to search for brands at 48.8%, and it ranked 13th globally in the use of social media for business-related purposes at 28%.
UAE ranked fifth globally in the percentage of Facebook ads at 82.5% compared to 34.1% globally, and fifth globally in the percentage of YouTube social ads, which reached 93.4% compared to the global rate of 37.7%.
The country ranked sixth globally in the percentage of Instagram ads, reaching 60.2% compared to the global percentage of 23.9%, and it was ranked second globally in the percentage of Tik Tok ads, reaching 81.3% compared to the global rate of 15.9%.
Finally, the UAE was ranked third globally in the percentage of LinkedIn ads, reaching 69% compared to the global average of 14.6%, as well as eighth globally in the percentage of Snapchat ads, reaching 37.2% compared to the global average of 9%.
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