Germany has fallen three places in a new global ranking of digital competitiveness. The federal republic now sits in 18th place, out of 63 countries.

Germany lags behind in digital competitiveness

The 2020 IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking has revealed that, over the past few years, Germany has lost ground when it comes to digital competitiveness. Back in 2016 IMD, a private business school which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, ranked Germany 15th place in its ranking. This year, the federal republic has fallen back to 18th place.

Now in its fourth year, the digital ranking measures the capacity and readiness of worldwide economies to adopt and explore digital technologies as a key driver for economic transformation in business, government and wider society. The researchers from IMD also believe this could be an important indicator of how countries are managing the coronavirus pandemic.

"Germany has excellent research and good talents, but digital competitiveness is not really taking off," said Christos Cabolis, IMD’s head economist. “For example, there is a lack of technological infrastructure and investment in telecommunications. But too many Germans don't know enough about the digital world either. So far, educational measures haven't been enough. "

German’s lack digital skills

According to the study, Germany was the lowest-ranked country in a number of categories, including digital skills, the development and application of new technologies, the availability of wireless internet and electronic solutions for citizens.

The US topped the rankings, followed by Singapore, Denmark and Sweden. The top ten also included Hong Kong, Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Korea, Norway and Finland. The same countries all made the top ten last year, albeit in a slightly different order.