That is out of 117 countries, or 92 percent of the global population. Out of the five fundamental digital life pillars, Cyprus’s worst score is for internet quality (ranking 53rd globally), and the best is for e-security (22nd). Cyprus’s e-government services come 31st, while e-infrastructure and internet affordability rank 39th and 51st, respectively. In the face of waging inflation, fixed broadband internet has become less affordable worldwide for the second year in a row, prying the global digital divide even further.

 The DQL study is conducted by the cybersecurity company Surfshark. It evaluates countries based on five fundamental digital wellbeing pillars: internet quality, e-government, e-infrastructure, internet affordability, and e-security. This year, Cyprus has made it into the top 40 globally, ranking 37th in the final index and fifth in Asia. The country has dropped by two positions since last year's edition, falling from 35th to 37th. Out of all index pillars, Cyprus's weakest spot is internet quality, which needs to improve by 70 percent to match the best-ranking country's result (Chile's).

 Cyprus's internet quality, considering internet speed, stability, and growth, ranks 53rd in the world and is around the same as the global average. Regarding internet speed alone, Cyprus's mobile internet ranks higher than fixed broadband in the global ranking, operating at 159.2 Mbps/s (7th globally). Meanwhile, the fixed broadband internet comes 66th (58 Mbps/s).

 Compared to Turkey, Cyprus's mobile internet is three times faster, while broadband is 30 percent faster. Since last year, mobile internet speed in Cyprus has improved by 49.9 percent (53 Mbps), and fixed broadband speed has grown by 14.9 percent (7.5 Mbps). In comparison, Singapore's residents enjoyed mobile speeds up to 104 Mbps/s and fixed to as much as 261 Mbps/s - that's the fastest internet in the world this year.

 Cyprus's internet affordability ranks 51st in the world. Residents can buy 1GB of mobile internet in Cyprus for as cheap as three minutes 39 seconds of work per month, three times more than in Turkey. However, compared to Israel, which has the most affordable mobile internet on the planet (5s per 1GB), Cypriots work 45 times more. Its affordability improved since the previous year, making people work 14 minutes 18 seconds less to afford the same mobile internet service.                                                         

Fixed broadband costs Cypriots around two hours 32 minutes of their precious working time each month. To afford it, Cypriots have to work 8 times more than Israeli citizens, for whom the most affordable package costs only 19 min of work monthly. Since last year, broadband internet has become more affordable in Cyprus, making people work 46 minutes less to afford fixed broadband internet service.             

 Globally, broadband is getting less affordable each year. Looking at countries included in last year's index, people have to work six minutes more to afford broadband internet during this year. In some countries, such as Ivory Coast and Uganda, people work an average of two weeks to earn the cheapest fixed broadband internet package. The same trend was observed last year. With the current inflation, the pressure on low-income households that need the internet has become even heavier.