Azerbaijan beats Italy in internet stakes

More people use the internet in Azerbaijan than in Italy, where locals continue to shun the online sphere, according to a survey released on Monday.

Just 58.7 percent of Italians use the internet, putting the country in 64th place out of 191 nations ranked in the Broadband Commission for Digital Development report.

The 63 countries ranked above Italy include Azerbaijan, one spot ahead, Greece (61st) and Saudi Arabia (58th) - where authorities operate a tight system of internet censorship.

Italy can however boast being ahead of a number of eastern European countries, such as authoritarian state Belarus (69th) and war-torn Ukraine (94th).

Citizens in the Nordic countries are the most internet-savvy, with 96.5 percent of Icelanders being online. Norwegians rank a close second, followed by the Swedish and the Danes.

Italy’s poor performance comes despite the country adopting a digital plan back in 2010, the Commission said.

The Italian government is continuing to push for greater internet usage, with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi this week visiting tech companies including Google and Facebook in California.

But Italy still has a long way to go, with a recent report putting the country in last place in the EU for high-speed internet. The situation is worse in the south, while super-fast broadband is hard to find anywhere in Italy.

Bakudaily.Az