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digital gender gap

The digital gender gap has cost nations billions – and it’s not improving

Across the world, millions of people are still unable to access the internet and participate online – and women are disproportionately excluded. Men are 21% more likely to be online than women globally, with this percentage soaring to 52% in least developed countries, according to new research that estimates the economic impact of women’s digital exclusion.

Researchers point out that the digital gender gap has barely improved since 2011 in the 32 countries they studied, dropping just half a percentage point, from 30.9% to 30.4%.

Among the various barriers that prevent women and girls from accessing the internet, the researchers identify the unaffordable devices and data tariffs, inequalities in education and digital skills, social norms that discourage women and girls from being online, and fears around privacy, safety, and security.

This failure to ensure women have equal access to the internet has cost low-income countries $1tn over the past decade and could mean an additional loss of $500bn by 2025 if governments don’t take action, the study, conducted by the World Wide Web Foundation and the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), shows.

Men are 21% more likely to be online than women globally, rising to 52% in Least Developed Countries.

Last year, governments in 32 countries, including India, Egypt and Nigeria, lost an estimated $126bn in gross domestic product because women were unable to contribute to the digital economy. The digital gender gap cost $24bn in lost tax revenues in 2020, which could have been invested in health, education and housing, according to the report.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former executive director of UN Women and founder of the Umlambo Foundation, said: “We will not achieve gender equality until we eliminate this digital gap that keeps so many women offline and away from the opportunities the internet provides.”

The digital divide is real — and it’s sexist

By the latest estimates from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a majority of women in the world have never used the internet. It estimates that, in 2019, 55% of men in the world had used the internet while only 48% of women had.

This gap, known as the digital gender gap, represents 303 million people – almost the population size of the United States of America.

In several parts of the world, the number of men online vastly outnumber the number of women online. The ITU’s regional estimates for Africa put the gender ratio at nearly three-to-two in favour of men over women.

Key Findings of the Report

There is a substantial digital gender gap — and it’s not getting better. In the 32 countries researchers studied, just over a third of women were connected to the internet compared to almost half of men. Since 2011, the gender gap has only dropped half a percentage point, from 30.9% to 30.4%.

Countries have missed out on $1 trillion USD in GDP as a result of women’s exclusion from the digital world. In 2020, the loss to GDP was $126 billion USD.

girl watching video

A digital economy without the full participation of women cannot scale to reach its potential. Digital inclusion is not only good policy — it’s good economics.

This economic hit means billions in lost taxes that could be invested to improve education, health, and housing. This lost productivity translates to a missing $24 billion in tax revenues annually for these governments, based on current tax-to-GDP ratios.

Governments are not adopting the policies they need to bridge the digital gender gap. Of all the policy areas covered by the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) in its annual Affordability Drivers Index, gender consistently receives the lowest scores. In the 2020 Affordability Report, over 40% of countries studied had no meaningful policies or programs to expand women’s access to the internet.

Policymakers have a $500 billion+ economic opportunity. Closing the digital gender gap in these countries would deliver an estimated $524 billion increase in economic activity by 2025.

Researchers say that these findings show the magnitude of the digital gender gap and the opportunity that exists for governments willing to take action, adding: “A digital economy without the full participation of women cannot scale to reach its potential. Digital inclusion is not only good policy – it’s good economics.”

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