Long road to go, Pakistan among least internet inclusive country in Asia: Report

• Pakistan falls into the last quartile of index countries overall, and it ranks 24th out of 26 Asian countries, says the report.
• Notable among Pakistan's weaknesses are by far the largest gender gaps in the index, in both mobile and Internet access.

Pakistan was placed on the 76th spot out of 100 countries and was among the worst performers among Asian countries on the Inclusive Internet Index 2020, commissioned by social media giant Facebook and released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

“Pakistan falls into the last quartile of index countries overall, and it ranks 24th out of 26 Asian countries. Notable among its weaknesses are by far the largest gender gaps in the index, in both mobile and Internet access. Low levels of digital literacy and relatively poor network quality are major impediments to Internet inclusion,” said the report.

The Inclusive Internet Index, commissioned by Facebook and conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit, seeks to measure the extent to which the Internet is not only accessible and affordable but also relevant to all, allowing usage that enables positive social and economic outcomes at the individual and group level.

Now in its fourth year, the index assesses the performance of 100 countries in four categories of inclusion: Accessibility, Affordability, Relevance, and Readiness.

As per the overall Index score based on the scores of the Availability, Affordability, Relevance and Readiness categories: Pakistan attained 86^th spot in Availability factor, 57^th spot in Affordability, 71^st in Relevance and 64^th on Readiness.

Sweden remains the overall index leader this year thanks to strong performance in all categories, New Zealand was placed second on the list