Photo: Lukas from Munich, Germany derivative work: Inkey · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale
Topic 17 of 18 · Country Index 2026
Palau: Digital & Technology
How ready is a country to use, make and trade technology?
Palau is placed 184th of 198 countries on digital & technology in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: GovTech Maturity Index 0.206 (2025); Government AI Readiness Index 23.8 (2025).
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Digital & Technology
184th
of 198 countries placed
Placed from 3 of 4 key statistics
Not placed in the Country Index 2026 overall: measured on too few topics.
01The evidence
The 4 key statistics that decide it
Only these place Palau 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.
0.206
GTMI score (0–1)
Higher is better
Palau: 0.206. 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 Micronesia
- 0.254 Kiribati
23.8
AI readiness score (0–100)
Higher is better
Ranked 151st of 195 by Oxford Insights
Palau: 23.8. 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 Micronesia
- 23.9 Kiribati
Key 3 of 4
Government Cyber Security Capacity
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
2025 edition · data for 2025 · CC BY-SA 4.0
No reading
Original latent estimate (≈ −3.6 to +3.7); higher = more capacity
Higher is better
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg publishes no 2025 figure for Palau, so the standing rests on the other keys.
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
Key 4 of 4
Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 3.0 IGO
0.391
Digitally-deliverable services exports (% of services exports)
Higher is better
Palau: 0.391. 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 Micronesia
- 11.44 Nauru
02Over time
Which way Palau 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.
Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports
Digitally-deliverable services exports (% of services exports) · higher is better
PalauWorld median
Palau fell from 0.626 in 2010 to 0.391 in 2024; the world median went from 19.88 to 25.42.
Every year’s figures
Year Palau World median 2024 0.391 25.42 2023 0.434 26.03 2022 1.744 26.04 2021 2.044 29.80 2020 0.581 29.47 2019 0.487 18.36 2018 0.320 20.09 2017 0.270 18.32 2016 0.303 18.15 2015 0.273 19.57 2014 0.224 21.00 2013 0.222 20.50 2012 0.384 19.56 2011 0.460 19.21 2010 0.626 19.88
03In context
Palau 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.
Palau and Micronesia
Palau has no land border, so the table compares it with its sub-region. 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Nauru | 171st | 0.138 | 22.48 | — | 11.44 |
 Kiribati | 173rd | 0.254 | 23.9 | — | 5.227 |
| Palau | 184th | 0.206 | 23.8 | — | 0.391 |
 Micronesia | 195th | 0.086 | 20.6 | — | — |
 Marshall Islands | 196th | 0.121 | 18.92 | — | — |
 Guam | not placed | — | — | — | — |
 Northern Mariana Islands | not placed | — | — | — | — |
“—”: no published reading in that edition. What a standing is
Across Micronesia
Every country in the sub-region, by its place among all 198.
Placed either side on digital & technology
The countries immediately above and below Palau in the topic’s list.
04Context, no vote
Where Palau is ahead of the world, and behind
3 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 median1
Statistics on which Palau does better than the middle country measured.
Primary Schools with Internet for TeachingUIS · 2024 · world median 98.6610098.66▲ Improved since 2020
Palau: 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.
No better end2
These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.
GitHub RepositoriesGitHub · 2026 · world median 141,454470141,454Moved since 2021
Palau: 470 · 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 84,67039784,670Moved since 2020
Palau: 397 · 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.
No current reading for Palau
AI User Share of the Working-Age Population, Anthropic AI Usage Index, Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index, Firms Experiencing Internet Disruptions, Firms with Their Own Website, Frontier Technology Readiness Index, GitHub Git Pushes, Government Cyber Security Capacity, Government Dissemination of False Information (Domestic), Government Internet Shutdowns, Government Social Media Censorship, ICT Goods Exports (last 2018), ICT Services Exports (last 2023), Internet Use Among Adults, Made or Received a Digital Payment, Mobile Phone Ownership, Share of Firms' Payments Made Electronically, Share of Graduates from ICT Programmes and Smartphone Ownership. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.
05Country Index 2026
Digital & Technology among Palau’s 7 topics
Digital & Technology is Palau’s 7th best-placed topic of 7. Strongest first, each marker at its share of that topic’s field.
- Democracy & Civil Liberties14th of 1982/4 keys
- Risk & Resiliencejoint 52nd of 1933/4 keys
- Education & Knowledge78th of 1983/4 keys
- Development & Human Capital81st of 1963/3 keys
- Governance & Institutions117th of 1942/4 keys
- Health & Wellbeing138th of 2003/4 keys
- Digital & Technology184th of 1983/4 keys
No standing on Economy & Innovation, Work & Labour, Environment & Sustainability, Gender & Equality, Peace & Security, Mobility & Trade, Food & Agriculture, Poverty & Inequality, Energy: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.
06The top of the list
Who leads on digital & technology
The three countries placed highest of 198, and the leaders Palau can most readily be measured against.
=1
EstoniaNorthern Europe
Joint 1st of 198 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Andrus Uuetalu derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0 ee, greyscale
=1
South KoreaEastern Asia
Joint 1st of 198 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3
SingaporeSouth-eastern Asia
3rd of 198 · 4 of 4 keys
Photo: Khairul Nizam . · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
Placed highest nearby
Highest in Oceania
Australia30th4/4 keysHighest in Micronesia
Nauru171st3/4 keysThis page
Palau184th3/4 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
Palau 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 Palau rank on digital & technology?
Palau is placed 184th of 198 countries on Digital & Technology in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 4 key statistics (GovTech Maturity Index, Government AI Readiness Index 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 Palau?
0.206 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 Palau?
23.8 in 2025 (aI readiness score (0–100)), according to Oxford Insights. The world median in the same edition was 40.19.
How have Palau’s digital & technology figures changed?
Digitally-Deliverable Services Exports fell from 0.626 in 2010 to 0.391 in 2024.
Which digital & technology statistics are missing for Palau?
No current reading is published for Palau on AI User Share of the Working-Age Population, Anthropic AI Usage Index, Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index, Firms Experiencing Internet Disruptions, Firms with Their Own Website, Frontier Technology Readiness Index, GitHub Git Pushes, Government Cyber Security Capacity, Government Dissemination of False Information (Domestic), Government Internet Shutdowns, Government Social Media Censorship, ICT Goods Exports, ICT Services Exports, Internet Use Among Adults, Made or Received a Digital Payment, Mobile Phone Ownership, Share of Firms' Payments Made Electronically, Share of Graduates from ICT Programmes and Smartphone Ownership. 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 3 statistics on this page come from 2 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
Palau’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Palau (banner) — Lukas from Munich, Germany derivative work: Inkey, CC BY 2.0
- Estonia — 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). Palau: Digital & Technology — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/palau/digital