Investments in internet infrastructure in the Philippines are bearing fruit, as the country now ranks 48th out of 110 countries according to the 2021 Digital Quality of Life Index.
With this year’s rank, the country has surpassed Asian neighbors such as Indonesia (72nd) and Vietnam (73rd), although it still trails behind others such as Malaysia(31st) and Thailand (44th). The Philippines also saw a remarkable improvement over last year when it placed 66th overall.
The Digital Quality of Life is an annual report prepared by VPN service provider SurfShark. It measures countries on five key aspects to determine rankings—electronic government, electronic infrastructure, electronic security, internet affordability, and internet quality.
In terms of how the Philippines has performed in 2021, the DQL attributes broadband internet stability, mobile speed growth, and broadband speed growth as factors behind the improved ranking. On the other hand, the country still needs to improve on three criteria: mobile affordability, mobile speed, and broadband speed.