Digital skills, being proficient in Internet, computer and software use, increased among people aged 12 or older. Nearly 80 percent of them had at least basic digital skills in 2023, up from 74 percent in 2021. The Dutch are most proficient in online communication, least proficient in using software. This is according to Statistics Netherlands' ICT usage of households and individuals survey, a survey that is conducted in the same way in all EU countries.
This survey is conducted annually from April through July. About 6 thousand people aged 12 or older participate in the survey. Digital skills are determined by the number of activities reported in five areas: information and digital literacy, online communication, computers and online services, privacy protection, and software use. For each area, people may have so-called basic digital skills, or more than basic digital skills.
A person possesses more than basic digital skills overall if that person has more than basic digital skills in all five areas (composite score). In 2023, 50 percent of the Dutch population had more than basic digital skills, compared to 48 percent in 2021.
In the area of online communication (e-mailing, making Internet calls, using social networks, and expressing your opinion on social or political issues online), 95 percent of people had more than just basic skills. By 2021, the figure was 89 percent. This is higher than for the other areas of digital skills.
In the area of information and digital literacy (such as looking up information online, reading news, recognizing fake news), 88 percent of those 12 and older had skills beyond the basic level. For using computers and online services (such as shopping online, installing apps, or taking an online course), it was 82 percent.
In the area of privacy protection, 74 percent of the Dutch had more than basic skills. This is higher than in 2021, when it was 67 percent. In the area of software use (using programs for word processing and spreadsheets, and writing computer programs in a programming language), it was 62 percent, the lowest of the five digital skills areas, as it was in 2021.
How handy people are with the Internet and computers varies greatly by age and education level. For example, the percentage of Dutch people with more than basic digital skills (total score) among 25- to 45-year-olds is more than twice as high as among 65- to 75-year-olds, and four times as high as among those over 75.
Among 12- to 25-year-olds, and among 55- to 65-year-olds, the share with more than basic skills increased from 2021.
Among those with a college or university education, 70 percent had digital skills above the basic level. This proportion is more than twice as high as among those with at most a vmbo diploma (29 percent).
The proportion of men with more than basic skills was 53 percent, compared with 47 percent among women.
People who score high on the composite score (total score) of digital skills, when asked, also consider themselves very skilled at looking up and arranging things online. This also applies to people who say they usually solve a problem with a computer program or app themselves: they are more digitally proficient than people who usually or always ask someone for help with digital problems.
Together with Finland, the Netherlands had the highest proportion of residents aged 16 to 75 with at least basic digital skills in 2021 (79 percent). By 2023, this had increased to 83 percent. With this, the Netherlands has already reached the European goal of "digitalization 2030": by that year, 80 percent of the EU population should have at least basic digital skills.
