Photo: Andrus Uuetalu derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0 ee · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 17 of 18 · Country Index 2026
Estonia: Digital & Technology
How ready is a country to use, make and trade technology?
Estonia is placed joint 1st of 198 countries on digital & technology in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: GovTech Maturity Index 0.99 (2025); Government AI Readiness Index 69.56 (2025).
Share
Digital & Technology
joint1st
of 198 countries placed
Placed from 4 of 4 key statistics
- 0.99GovTech Maturity Index, 2025GTMI score (0–1)
- 69.56Government AI Readiness Index, 2025AI readiness score (0–100)
- 3.715Government Cyber Security Capacity, 2025Original latent estimate (≈ −3.6 to +3.7); higher = more capacity
- 56.16Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports, 2024Digitally-deliverable services exports (% of services exports)
01The evidence
The 4 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Estonia on digital & technology — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.
0.99
GTMI score (0–1)
Higher is better
Estonia: 0.99. Across the 196 countries in this edition, values run from 0.01 (North Korea) to 0.997 (South Korea); the world median is 0.63.
- World median
- 0.63
- Best in Northern Europe
- 0.99 Estonia
- Land neighbours
- Latvia 0.898 · Russia 0.96
69.56
AI readiness score (0–100)
Higher is better
Ranked 21st of 195 by Oxford Insights
Estonia: 69.56. Across the 195 countries in this edition, values run from 12.12 (Guinea-Bissau) to 88.36 (United States); the world median is 40.19.
- World median
- 40.19
- Best in Northern Europe
- 77.75 United Kingdom
- Land neighbours
- Latvia 59.14 · Russia 59.57
Key 3 of 4
Government Cyber Security Capacity
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0
3.715
Original latent estimate (≈ −3.6 to +3.7); higher = more capacity
Higher is better
Estonia: 3.715. Across the 176 countries in this edition, values run from -2.66 (Liberia) to 3.715 (Estonia); the world median is 0.196.
- World median
- 0.196
- Best in Northern Europe
- 3.715 Estonia
- Land neighbours
- Latvia 1.922 · Russia 2.107
Key 4 of 4
Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 3.0 IGO
56.16
Digitally-deliverable services exports (% of services exports)
Higher is better
Estonia: 56.16. Across the 170 countries in this edition, values run from 0.377 (Gambia) to 87.15 (Ireland); the world median is 25.42.
- World median
- 25.42
- Best in Northern Europe
- 87.15 Ireland
- Land neighbours
- Latvia 44.91 · Russia 24.25
02Over time
Which way Estonia is moving
Each key’s published value, edition by edition, beside the world median. The Country Index 2026 is the first edition of the standing, so the standing itself has no history to chart yet.
Government AI Readiness Index
AI readiness score (0–100) · higher is better
EstoniaWorld median
Estonia fell from 69.92 in 2020 to 69.56 in 2025; the world median went from 39.58 to 40.19.
Every year’s figures
Year Estonia World median 2025 69.6 40.2 2024 72.6 43.3 2023 70.9 41.4 2022 70.1 40.3 2021 69.2 44.1 2020 69.9 39.6 Government Cyber Security Capacity
Original latent estimate (≈ −3.6 to +3.7); higher = more capacity · higher is better
EstoniaWorld median
Estonia rose from 0.464 in 2000 to 3.715 in 2025; the world median went from -0.514 to 0.196.
Every year’s figures
Year Estonia World median 2025 3.7 0.20 2024 3.1 0.11 2023 3.1 0.14 2022 3.1 0.16 2021 3.1 0.12 2020 3.1 0.12 2019 3.1 0.10 2018 3.1 -0.05 2017 3.1 -0.08 2016 3.1 -0.10 2015 3.1 -0.17 2014 3.1 -0.21 2013 2.5 -0.21 2012 2.5 -0.25 2011 2.5 -0.32 2010 2.5 -0.31 2009 2.5 -0.50 2008 2.5 -0.51 2007 1.5 -0.51 2006 1.1 -0.55 2005 1.1 -0.55 2004 0.6 -0.55 2003 0.6 -0.55 2002 0.6 -0.51 2001 0.6 -0.51 2000 0.5 -0.51 Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports
Digitally-deliverable services exports (% of services exports) · higher is better
EstoniaWorld median
Estonia rose from 29.84 in 2010 to 56.16 in 2024; the world median went from 19.88 to 25.42.
Every year’s figures
Year Estonia World median 2024 56.16 25.42 2023 55.89 26.03 2022 52.25 26.04 2021 52.27 29.80 2020 45.64 29.47 2019 33.08 18.36 2018 31.02 20.09 2017 31.36 18.32 2016 30.34 18.15 2015 27.79 19.57 2014 26.06 21.00 2013 24.53 20.50 2012 24.84 19.56 2011 24.65 19.21 2010 29.84 19.88
03In context
Estonia beside its neighbours
A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 198 countries on digital & technology, never a place within the region.
Estonia and the countries it borders
Standing among all 198; the key columns are the publishers’ own values.
| Country | Standing | GovTech Maturity IndexGTMI score (0–1) | Government AI Readiness IndexAI readiness score (0–100) | Government Cyber Security CapacityOriginal latent estimate (≈ −3.6 to +3.7); higher = more capacity | Digitally-Deliverable Services ExportsDigitally-deliverable services exports (% of services exports) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estonia | =1st | 0.99 | 69.56 | 3.715 | 56.16 |
 Latvia | 25th | 0.898 | 59.14 | 1.922 | 44.91 |
 Russia | =34th | 0.96 | 59.57 | 2.107 | 24.25 |
“—”: no published reading in that edition. What a standing is
Across Northern Europe
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 198.
Placed either side on digital & technology
The countries immediately above and below Estonia in the topic’s list.
- Estonia=1st
South Korea=1st
Singapore3rd
Brazil4th
04Context, no vote
Where Estonia is ahead of the world, and behind
19 more statistics filed under digital & technology, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.
Ahead of the world median14
Statistics on which Estonia does better than the middle country measured.
Mobile Phone OwnershipWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median 91.6899.2191.68No earlier reading
Estonia: 99.21 · world median 91.68 · Adults who own a mobile phone (% of population aged 15+). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 45.83 to 100; higher is better.
Position 5th of 140 · derived.
Smartphone OwnershipWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median 78.7895.2478.78No earlier reading
Estonia: 95.24 · world median 78.78 · Adults whose main mobile phone is a smartphone (% of population aged 15+). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 8.663 to 97.36; higher is better.
Position 5th of 140 · derived.
Internet Use Among AdultsWorld Bank Group · 2024 · world median 83.0597.2183.05No earlier reading
Estonia: 97.21 · world median 83.05 · Adults who used the internet in the past three months (% of population aged 15+). World Bank Group, 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 11.06 to 99.12; higher is better.
Position 8th of 140 · derived.
Share of Firms' Payments Made ElectronicallyWorld Bank Group · 2026 · world median 64.2298.3464.22No earlier reading
Estonia: 98.34 · world median 64.22 · Payments made electronically in a typical month, excluding payroll and payments to government (%). World Bank Group, 2026 edition, data for 2026.
Published values in that edition run from 2.172 to 99.91; higher is better.
Government Dissemination of False Information (Domestic)V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 2025 · world median -0.1142.223-0.114▼ Worsened since 2015
Estonia: 2.223 · world median -0.114 · Original latent estimate (≈ −3.6 to +3.2); higher = less disinformation. V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -3.392 to 2.93; higher is better.
Position 11th of 176 · derived.
Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness IndexOECD · 2025 · world median 0.2060.0430.206▼ Worsened since 2015
Estonia: 0.043 · world median 0.206 · Digital STRI (0 = open, 1 = closed). OECD, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 0.021 to 0.649; lower is better.
Position 118th of 125 · derived, 1st = worst.
Government Internet ShutdownsV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 2025 · world median 1.0231.881.023▲ Improved since 2015
Estonia: 1.88 · world median 1.023 · Original latent estimate (≈ −4 to +2); higher = fewer shutdowns. V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -3.547 to 2.081; higher is better.
Position 16th of 176 · derived.
ICT Services ExportsUNCTAD · 2024 · world median 7.47423.667.474▲ Improved since 2014
Estonia: 23.66 · world median 7.474 · ICT services exports (% of services exports). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 56.25; higher is better.
Position 12th of 118 · derived.
ICT Goods ExportsUNCTAD · 2024 · world median 0.9758.380.975▼ Worsened since 2014
Estonia: 8.38 · world median 0.975 · ICT goods exports (% of total goods exports). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 61.45; higher is better.
Position 17th of 119 · derived.
Frontier Technology Readiness IndexUNCTAD · 2023 · world median 0.4850.7690.485No real change since 2013
Estonia: 0.769 · world median 0.485 · Frontier Technology Readiness Index (0–1). UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 1; higher is better.
Position 30th of 170 · derived.
Government Social Media CensorshipV-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg · 2025 · world median 0.5051.6630.505▼ Worsened since 2015
Estonia: 1.663 · world median 0.505 · Original latent estimate (≈ −4.5 to +2.4); higher = less censorship. V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from -3.721 to 2.295; higher is better.
Position 34th of 176 · derived.
Firms with Their Own WebsiteWorld Bank Group · 2026 · world median 62.3982.1462.39No earlier reading
Estonia: 82.14 · world median 62.39 · Firms with their own website (%). World Bank Group, 2026 edition, data for 2026.
Published values in that edition run from 1.824 to 97.88; higher is better.
Position 39th of 181 · derived.
Primary Schools with Internet for TeachingUIS · 2024 · world median 98.6610098.66No real change since 2016
Estonia: 100 · world median 98.66 · Primary schools with internet access for teaching (%). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2024 edition, data for 2024.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 100; higher is better.
Firms Experiencing Internet DisruptionsWorld Bank Group · 2026 · world median 32.3521.6132.35No earlier reading
Estonia: 21.61 · world median 32.35 · Firms that experienced internet outages or slow-downs (%). World Bank Group, 2026 edition, data for 2026.
Published values in that edition run from 0.735 to 82.39; lower is better.
Position 120th of 163 · derived, 1st = worst.
No better end5
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
Share of Graduates from ICT ProgrammesUIS · 2023 · world median 5.6018.9795.601Moved since 2014
Estonia: 8.979 · world median 5.601 · Tertiary graduates from ICT programmes (% of all graduates). UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2023 edition, data for 2023.
Published values in that edition run from 0 to 17.19.
Anthropic AI Usage IndexAnthropic · 2026 · world median 0.963.210.96No earlier reading
Estonia: 3.21 · world median 0.96 · Claude usage index (1 = in proportion to working-age population). Anthropic, 2026 edition, data for 2026.
Published values in that edition run from 0.07 to 6.4.
GitHub RepositoriesGitHub · 2026 · world median 141,454441,650141,454Moved since 2020
Estonia: 441,650 · world median 141,454 · Public repositories located in the economy (as of quarter end). GitHub, 2026 edition, data for 2026.
Published values in that edition run from 142 to 77,284,974.
GitHub DevelopersGitHub · 2026 · world median 84,670149,00184,670Moved since 2020
Estonia: 149,001 · world median 84,670 · Developer accounts located in the economy (as of quarter end). GitHub, 2026 edition, data for 2026.
Published values in that edition run from 110 to 32,410,529.
GitHub Git PushesGitHub · 2025 · world median 148,714281,798148,714No real change since 2020
Estonia: 281,798 · world median 148,714 · Git pushes during the quarter. GitHub, 2025 edition, data for 2025.
Published values in that edition run from 1,967 to 40,768,192.
No current reading for Estonia
AI User Share of the Working-Age Population and Made or Received a Digital Payment (last 2021). Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
“Position · derived” is this site’s ordering of the published values, 1st = best unless the row says otherwise; the publisher ranks no country on it. Rank, position and standing
05Country Index 2026
Digital & Technology among Estonia’s 16 topics
Digital & Technology is Estonia’s best-placed topic of 16. Strongest first, each marker at its share of that topic’s field.
- Digital & Technologyjoint 1st of 1984/4 keys
- Democracy & Civil Libertiesjoint 8th of 1984/4 keys
- Governance & Institutions9th of 1944/4 keys
- Risk & Resilience11th of 1934/4 keys
- Health & Wellbeing16th of 2004/4 keys
- Gender & Equality20th of 1834/4 keys
- Development & Human Capital22nd of 1963/3 keys
- Peace & Security32nd of 1774/4 keys
- Economy & Innovation33rd of 1764/4 keys
- Work & Labourjoint 37th of 1824/4 keys
- Energy34th of 1653/3 keys
- Poverty & Inequalityjoint 35th of 1593/3 keys
- Food & Agriculture45th of 1844/4 keys
- Mobility & Trade45th of 1774/4 keys
- Education & Knowledge65th of 1983/4 keys
- Environment & Sustainabilityjoint 123rd of 1864/4 keys
06The top of the list
Who leads on digital & technology
The three countries placed highest of 198, and the leaders Estonia can most readily be measured against.
- =1Estonia
Northern Europe
Joint 1st of 198 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Andrus Uuetalu derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0 ee, greyscale
=1South KoreaEastern Asia
Joint 1st of 198 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3SingaporeSouth-eastern Asia
3rd of 198 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Khairul Nizam . · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
Placed highest nearby
Highest in Europe
Estonia=1st4/4 keys
Positions out of 198 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.
07Questions
Estonia on digital & technology: questions answered
Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.
How does Estonia rank on digital & technology?
Estonia is placed joint 1st of 198 countries on Digital & Technology in the Country Index 2026, from 4 of its 4 key statistics (GovTech Maturity Index, Government AI Readiness Index, Government Cyber Security Capacity and Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.
What is the latest GovTech Maturity Index figure for Estonia?
0.99 in 2025 (gTMI score (0–1)), according to World Bank Group. The world median in the same edition was 0.63.
What is the latest Government AI Readiness Index figure for Estonia?
69.56 in 2025 (aI readiness score (0–100)), according to Oxford Insights. The world median in the same edition was 40.19.
How does Estonia compare with Russia on digital & technology?
Russia is placed joint 34th of 198, and Estonia joint 1st. GovTech Maturity Index: Russia 0.96, Estonia 0.99; Government AI Readiness Index: Russia 59.57, Estonia 69.56; Government Cyber Security Capacity: Russia 2.107, Estonia 3.715; Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports: Russia 24.25, Estonia 56.16.
How have Estonia’s digital & technology figures changed?
Government AI Readiness Index fell from 69.92 in 2020 to 69.56 in 2025; Government Cyber Security Capacity rose from 0.464 in 2000 to 3.715 in 2025; Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports rose from 29.84 in 2010 to 56.16 in 2024.
Which digital & technology statistics are missing for Estonia?
No current reading is published for Estonia on AI User Share of the Working-Age Population and Made or Received a Digital Payment. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.
08Method
Method, sources and how to cite
What this topic does not measure
Broadband and mobile subscriptions, connection speeds and the cost of getting online are absent, for the licence reason above; internet use and phone ownership, from the World Bank’s own household survey, and firms’ websites and internet disruptions, from its Enterprise Surveys, are published here as context. The ICT share of goods exports votes under Mobility & Trade. Digital public services and data-protection law are not held yet. Research and development spending is filed under Education & Knowledge, and what an economy knows how to make is under Economy & Innovation.
How the Digital & Technology standing is decided
A standing is this site’s ordering, named with its edition — never a publisher’s rank. 4 key statistics vote, one vote each; every country’s published value becomes a place within that key’s own field, the places are averaged, and the average is never published. A country needs 2 of the 4 keys to be placed.
The digital & technology method, step by stepHow every standing on this site is built
The key statistics and their licences
- GovTech Maturity Index — World Bank Group, CC BY 4.0
- Government AI Readiness Index — Oxford Insights, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Government Cyber Security Capacity — V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports — UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), CC BY 3.0 IGO
The other 19 statistics on this page come from 7 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.
The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photographs
Estonia’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Estonia (banner) — Andrus Uuetalu derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0 ee
- South Korea — Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Singapore — Khairul Nizam ., CC BY 2.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Estonia: Digital & Technology — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/estonia/digital