Selim Jahan
Inequality has become the defining issue of our time. In many economies around the world, absolute poverty—measured both in terms of income and non-income traits—has come down, but inequalities have widened. Inequalities now exist—among regional, socio-economic groups, environmental zones, gender, access to social services, etc. Inequalities happen in both outcomes as well as opportunities. In fact, inequalities in opportunities, such as educational opportunities, become a determining factor in inequalities of outcomes, such as income. Today, the 10 richest people in the world own more than the 3.1 billion lower-class people of the world. In the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, global inequality is on the rise for the first time in decades, in fact since 1990. It is because the poorest 40 percent of the world lost twice as much income as the wealthiest 20 percent during the global pandemic.
There was a period in history when societies were mostly based on agrarian economies, and the pattern of land distribution used to be the driving force behind inequalities in societies. Later on, it was differences in educational opportunities and educational attainments, that became the major determinant of economic and social inequalities. In today’s world, inequalities in access to information and communication technology (ICT) have become the defining factor in disparities in various societies. There is no denying the fact that the world has been witnessing a digital revolution over the past three decades. By 2024, mobile technology has affected the lives of 5.5 billion—two-thirds of the global population—internet users in the world. In 2023, there were more than 8.9 billion mobile phone subscriptions globally, changing the way people work, innovate, interact, and do business. The digital revolution has been creating changes in the world of work and accelerating globalisation. The global internet traffic has increased from 2,401 exabytes in 2019 to 5,291 exabytes in 2022—registering an average annual growth rate of 22 percent. In recent years, the digital revolution has accelerated the global production of goods and services, particularly the digital trade. In 2014, global trade in goods was more than $18.5 trillion and trade in services was almost $5 trillion. In 2023, the corresponding figures reached $30.5 trillion and $7.9 trillion, respectively.
But at the same time, there are also digital deprivations in the world. Yet in 2024, nearly 2.6 billion people in the world remain offline, accounting for 32 percent of the world’s population, and the vast majority without access are concentrated in developing countries. One billion people in the world are unable to prove their identity, which limits their access to digital services and opportunities. Financial inclusions have remained an illusion for different groups of people. In spite of the digital revolution and apart from digital deprivations, there are significant inequalities in the access and usage of mobile technologies, which imply a global digital divide.
The “digital divide” is defined as “the gap between individuals, households, businesses, and geographic areas at different socio-economic levels” as a result of differences in “opportunities to access information and communication technologies and to their use for a variety of activities.” It is a way to describe the inequality in the online community, whether between developed or developing countries, rich or poor, and men or women. There is also a gap in the skillset to use technology and in its physical access. In order to have the technical skills to use technology, it is important to have access to it; but at the same time, without access to technology, it is not possible to develop these necessary skills.
Developed countries, like the G20 countries, have been able to achieve advanced levels of digitisation. They have been able to reap significant advantages in their economies, societies, and in the functioning of the public sectors due to the advanced level of digitisation. This means they have mass adoption of connected digital technologies and applications by consumers, enterprises, and the government. For instance, in developed countries, 87 percent of households have access to the internet and 82 percent have access to a computer. In developing countries, only 47 percent of households have access to the internet at home, and 39 percent have a computer. The percentages are lower for the least developed countries (LDCs), where only 12 percent of households have internet and only 10 percent have a computer. Advancements in technologies can also lead to the displacement of workers in particular sectors, increasing the already existing gaps in access and use. This inadvertently exacerbates digital divides among countries and between various segments of the population in each country and leads to greater inequality.
The existing global digital divide is a critical obstacle not only to digital inclusions but also to the overall socio-economic development in the world. Thus, enhancing digital inclusion is of crucial importance. The digital divide has become a determining factor in explaining the overall disparities in a society. Equity in digital inclusions and removal of the digital divide is a major driving force for removing such disparities in a society and for restoring overall socio-economic equality.
Selim Jahan is director of the Human Development Report Office and lead author of the Human Development Report.
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