Facts & Figures

Throughout the past decade, researchers have been looking into the gender digital divide and its consequences for women and girls in the developing world. From the number of girls online in Asia to available bandwidth to women in Sub-Saharan Africa, plenty of data has been gathered over time. However, a lack of gender data remains in many fields. Here are some exemplary facts and figures that illustrate the case.

All

Access & Affordability

Education &
Skills Development

Employment &
Entrepreneurship

Leadership & Policy

Access & Affordability


ITU estimates that there are some 250 million fewer women online than men.

(Source: ITU, ICT Facts and Figures 2016)

Access & Affordability


There are 184 million fewer women owning a mobile phone than men.

(Source: GSMA, Mobile Gender Gap Report 2018)

Access & Affordability


Costs are featured as the second most important concern for women who are not connected.

(Source: World Wide Web Foundation, Women’s Rights Online 2017)

Education & Skills Development


Girls appear to lose interest in STEM subjects with age, particularly between early and late adolescence. This lowered interest affects participation in advanced studies at secondary- level.

(Source: UNESCO, Cracking the code: Girls’ and women’s education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) 2017)

Education & Skills Development


The number of women studying STEM subjects has remained as low as 35% in the past 15 years.

(Source: UNESCO Institute of Statistics 2017)

Education & Skills Development


On average, only 3.5% of women in the 49 reporting countries can write a computer program compared to 7.8% of men who can do so.

(Source: ITU, World ICT Development Indicator)

Employment & Entrepreneurship


The data from OECD countries show that just 1.4% of total female workers have jobs that develop, maintain and operate ICT systems, compared to 5.5% of the male workers.

(Source: OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2017)

Employment & Entrepreneurship


Women make up only 21.5% of the digital workforce in Europe.

(Source: Quirós et al.: Women in the digital age. European Commission 2018)

Employment & Entrepreneurship

(Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2017/2018)

Leadership & Policy


Worldwide, only 27 countries have a woman ICT minister and only 26 have a woman heading the telecom regulator.

(Source: EQUALS Research Group: Taking stock, Data and evidence on gender equality in digital access, skills and leadership - Preliminary findings 2018)

Leadership & Policy


GSMA research shows that in all regions, women were employed in much larger proportions as entry level staff, compared to middle and senior management positions.

(Source: GSMA: Connected Women 2015: Accelerating the digital economy: Gender diversity in the telecommunications sector)

Leadership & Policy


The overall global gender gap will close in 108 years.

*across the 106 countries covered since the first edition of the report (Source: World Economic Forum, The Global Gender Gap Report 2018)