Digital skills (i28)
- 31/10/2025
- objective
- assessment
In 2023, the share of people aged 16 to 74 with at least basic digital skills was 59.4%. To achieve the sustainable development goal by 2030, this figure must be at least 80%. The current time series comprises just two points and it is therefore impossible to assess the evolution of the share of people aged 16 to 74 with at least basic digital skills.
Digital skills: at least basic - Belgium - trend assessment
percentage of population aged 16-74
| 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020 | 2021 | 2023 | 2025 | 2030 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| observations | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 54.2 | 59.4 | -- | -- |
| objective 2030 | 80.0 | 80.0 | 80.0 | 80.0 | 80.0 | 80.0 | 80.0 | 80.0 | 80.0 |
Source: Statbel (2023), Survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals, https://statbel.fgov.be/ (consulted on 20/03/2024).
Digital skills: at least basic - Belgium and international comparison
percentage of population aged 16-74
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2023//2021 | 2019//2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 54.2 | -- | 59.4 | 4.6 | -- |
| EU27 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 53.9 | -- | 55.6 | 1.5 | -- |
| Belgium, old definition | 60.3 | 60.9 | 60.6 | -- | 60.8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.2 |
| EU27, old definition | 53.7 | 54.3 | 55.3 | -- | 56.1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1.1 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||||
Source: Statbel (2023), Survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals, https://statbel.fgov.be/ (consulted on 20/03/2024); Eurostat (2024), Individuals' level of digital skills (from 2021 onwards) [online data code: isoc_sk_dskl_i21], https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 30/09/2024) et Eurostat (2024), Individuals' level of digital skills (until 2019) [online data code: isoc_sk_dskl_i], https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat (consulted on 30/09/2024).
Digital skills: at least basic, by region - Belgium
percentage of population aged 16-74
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2023//2021 | 2019//2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brussels-Capital Region | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 61.7 | -- | 65.0 | 2.6 | -- |
| Flemish Region | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 54.5 | -- | 61.0 | 5.8 | -- |
| Walloon Region | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 51.3 | -- | 54.6 | 3.2 | -- |
| Brussels-Capital Region, old definition | 63.6 | 64.9 | 61.0 | -- | 61.2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -1.0 |
| Flemish Region, old definition | 62.6 | 63.7 | 64.7 | -- | 62.6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.0 |
| Walloon Region, old definition | 55.1 | 54.5 | 52.9 | -- | 57.6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1.1 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||||
Source: Statbel (2023), Survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals, https://statbel.fgov.be/(consulted on 20/03/2024).
Digital skills: at least basic, by sex - Belgium
percentage of population aged 16-74
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2023//2021 | 2019//2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| females | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 51.6 | -- | 58.1 | 6.1 | -- |
| males | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 56.9 | -- | 60.7 | 3.3 | -- |
| females, old definition | 58.3 | 57.7 | 59.2 | -- | 58.3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.0 |
| males, old definition | 62.3 | 64.1 | 61.9 | -- | 63.4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.4 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||||
Source: Statbel (2023), Survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals, https://statbel.fgov.be/ (consulted on 20/03/2024).
Digital skills: at least basic, by age - Belgium
percentage of age group
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2023//2021 | 2019//2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16-24 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 67.1 | -- | 68.0 | 0.7 | -- |
| 25-34 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 74.2 | -- | 72.3 | -1.3 | -- |
| 35-44 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 63.2 | -- | 68.6 | 4.2 | -- |
| 45-54 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 51.7 | -- | 58.0 | 5.9 | -- |
| 55-64 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 38.1 | -- | 48.9 | 13.3 | -- |
| 65-74 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 28.9 | -- | 39.1 | 16.2 | -- |
| 16-24, old definition | 82.0 | 78.6 | 78.8 | -- | 79.3 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -0.8 |
| 25-34, old definition | 76.9 | 78.1 | 77.5 | -- | 73.0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -1.3 |
| 35-44, old definition | 68.0 | 72.3 | 69.3 | -- | 70.2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.8 |
| 45-54, old definition | 56.5 | 56.3 | 57.9 | -- | 61.4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2.1 |
| 55-64, old definition | 44.4 | 43.9 | 45.8 | -- | 45.2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.4 |
| 65-74, old definition | 28.2 | 31.7 | 29.9 | -- | 33.9 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 4.7 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||||
Source: Statbel (2023), Survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals, https://statbel.fgov.be/ (consulted on 20/03/2024).
Digital skills: at least basic, by education - Belgium
percentage of population aged 16-74
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2023//2021 | 2019//2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| at most lower secondary | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 26.3 | -- | 32.3 | 10.9 | -- |
| upper secondary | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 49.0 | -- | 53.9 | 4.8 | -- |
| tertiary | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 77.5 | -- | 80.8 | 2.2 | -- |
| at most lower secondary, old definition | 34.4 | 36.1 | 34.3 | -- | 35.0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.4 |
| upper secondary, old definition | 60.9 | 59.1 | 59.5 | -- | 58.0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -1.2 |
| tertiary, old definition | 85.7 | 87.4 | 86.5 | -- | 85.5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.0 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||||||||||
Source: Statbel (2023), Survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals, https://statbel.fgov.be/ (consulted on 20/03/2024).
Digital skills: at least basic, by income - Belgium
percentage of population aged 16-74
| 2021 | 2023 | 2023//2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| quintile 1 | 31.9 | 41.4 | 13.9 |
| quintile 2 | 42.2 | 49.3 | 8.1 |
| quintile 3 | 51.2 | 56.2 | 4.7 |
| quintile 4 | 66.1 | 66.3 | 0.2 |
| quintile 5 | 78.5 | 75.1 | -2.2 |
| //: Average Growth Rates | |||
Source: Statbel (2023), Survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals, https://statbel.fgov.be/ (consulted on 20/03/2024).
Definition: share of people aged 16 to 74 with at least basic digital skills. The overall level of digital skills is a composite indicator. It is considered "basic" if the citizen’s skills in (i) information and data understanding, (ii) communication and collaboration, (iii) digital content creation, (iv) security, and (v) problem solving have all been assessed as at least “basic”. The following breakdowns are available for this indicator: region, sex, income, age and education.
The data comes from the survey on the use of ICT (Information and communication technology) and internet in households and by individuals. Statbel Belgium organises this EU-harmonised survey in Belgium and makes the results available, in particular to Eurostat. The data used here for Belgium comes directly from Statbel and the data used for comparison with the rest of the EU comes from Eurostat. As the data is based on surveys, a margin of uncertainty must be considered. The confidence intervals for the data are available on request from Statbel.
Since the survey methodology was reviewed in 2021, data from the 2015-2019 period cannot be compared with the new time series starting in 2021.
Goal: the share of people aged 16 to 74 with at least basic digital skills should reach 80% by 2030.
The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include target 4.4: "By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship".
According to the target set by the Action Programme for the EU's Digital Decade, at least 80% of the people aged 16 to 74 should have at least basic digital skills by 2030 (European Commission, 2023a).
In relation to this target, the European Skills Agenda sets an intermediate target of at least 70% of adults aged 16 to 74 having at least basic digital skills by 2025 (European Commission, 2023b).
UN indicator: the indicator chosen corresponds to indicator 4.4.1 - Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill.
Sources
-
European Commission (2023a), Europe’s Digital Decade: digital targets for 2030, https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/europes-digital-decade-digital-targets-2030_en (consulted on 10/12/2025)
- European Commission (2023b), Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion, https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1223&langId=en (consulted on 10/12/2025)
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