These 10 countries spend the most money on digitization

Germany is lagging behind when it comes to digital transformation. This is mainly due to relatively low levels of investment. Other nations use a larger portion of their gross domestic product to develop digitally. In our ranking, we therefore show you which countries spend the most money on digitization.

Although more than ten years have passed since Angela Merkel’s famous comment “The Internet is new territory for all of us,” Germany still seems to be lagging behind in terms of digitalization – not only in Europe, but also in global comparison.

The research department of the KfW banking group believes that researching and developing digital technologies is not a German strength. Compared to leading countries, there are fewer scientific publications and patents. When it comes to the application of digital technologies, German companies are only in the middle of the European field.

These countries spend the most money on digitization

The reason is comparatively low investment in digitization. This is what KfW found in a recent study. According to OECD data, IT investments in 2022 amounted to around 54.5 billion euros. In relation to gross domestic product (GDP), this corresponds to a share of around 1.4 percent. This puts Germany in only 17th place.

However, in order to catch up with other highly developed countries, the amount would have to double or triple – that is, to investments of 140 to 180 billion euros per year. In the following ranking, we show you which countries spend the most money on digitization.

10th place: Spain

Spain ranks tenth in the ranking of countries that spend the most money on digitization. The state is investing 2.6 percent of its gross domestic product into IT. This is reflected, for example, in an advanced e-government system. The Cl@ve platform, for example, enables people to access government services online. Spain is also investing in smart cities, especially in cities like Barcelona.

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