Ashraf AboArafe
The Kingdom achieved second place among the G20 countries for the second time in a row, in the ICT Development Index 2024 issued by the International Telecommunication Union, which monitors the economies of 170 countries to measure digital development and the progress of countries in communications and technology services through a number of sub-indices that have been divided into two axes. Comprehensive and effective communication.
The Kingdom also achieved first place among the G20 in the effective communication axis, and second place in the comprehensive communication axis, and this comes as confirmation of the continuous development witnessed by the communications and technology sector in the Kingdom, and an extension of its efforts to build and strengthen the sector, which in turn contributed to achieving this global rank. And to enhance the Kingdom’s leadership in international indicators related to the sector.
The Communications, Space and Technology Commission stated that the Kingdom’s continued progress in this indicator confirms the strength of the digital infrastructure in the Kingdom and its contribution to enhancing the growth and development of the digital economy, and attracting investments, as the communications and technology market in the Kingdom is the largest and fastest growing in the Middle East and North Africa region, with a size estimated at 166 billion riyals, and the penetration rate of mobile telecommunications service subscriptions reached 198% of the population, and the monthly per capita data consumption rate in the Kingdom exceeded the global average by 3 times.
It is worth noting that the ICT Development Index (IDI) issued by the International Telecommunication Union measures digital development and the robustness of the digital infrastructure, to provide comprehensive and transparent data and methodology that was co-constructed by member states and teams of experts in the field.
