Digital infrastructure

Connectivity as a precondition for AI deployment, and whether it comes with the institutions needed to govern it.

Key messages

Six states report internet use above 95 per cent of the population.
Internet use in Iraq rose by 47.8 percentage points between 2018 and 2023, the fastest expansion in the region.
Connectivity and AI governance are decoupled: two states with telecom infrastructure scores above 0.96 have no AI strategy coded.
Kuwait and Mauritania rely almost wholly on mobile networks, which has implications for resilience.

Six states report internet use above 95 per cent. Internet use in Iraq rose by 47.8 percentage points between 2018 and 2023, and Morocco, Jordan, Egypt and Algeria each added more than 25 points. Connectivity has expanded faster than AI frameworks: two states with telecom infrastructure scores above 0.96 have no AI strategy coded.

Figure 10Six states report internet use above 95 per cent of the population; Mauritania reports 37 per cent

UAE100.0%SAU100.0%BHR100.0%KWT99.8%QAT99.7%OMN95.2%JOR92.5%MAR91.0%LBY88.5%PSE86.6%LBN83.5%IRQ81.7%DZA76.9%EGY72.7%TUN72.3%MRT37.4%

Source: World Bank WDI, 2023 or latest, table F3. Sudan, Syria and Yemen report no recent value; a missing value is not a low value.

Figure 11Mobile networks carry most connectivity; Kuwait and Mauritania have the lowest fixed broadband coverage

Source: World Bank WDI 2023, table F3.

Figure 12Internet use in Iraq rose by 47.8 percentage points between 2018 and 2023, the largest increase in the region

IRQ47.8 pp DZA27.9 pp JOR27.3 pp MAR26.2 pp EGY25.8 pp PSE22.2 pp MRT14.4 pp OMN9.8 pp TUN8.2 pp SAU6.7 pp LBN2.6 pp UAE1.6 pp BHR1.4 pp KWT0.1 pp

Source: computed from World Bank WDI, table F3.

Table 4Connectivity indicators by state, 2023

State	Internet users (%)	Mobile per 100	Fixed broadband per 100	EGDI telecom index 2024	Internet growth 2018 to 2023 (pp)
UAE	100.00	199.42	37.10	1.000	+1.55
SAU	100.00	157.78	43.57	0.984	+6.69
QAT	99.65	157.82	11.64	0.996	0.00
BHR	100.00	153.90	17.16	0.988	+1.36
KWT	99.75	167.68	1.01	0.999	+0.15
OMN	95.25	135.22	10.88	0.967	+9.75
EGY	72.69	92.83	10.86	0.695	+25.80
MAR	91.00	148.16	7.02	0.883	+26.20
TUN	72.35	134.14	14.14	0.836	+8.16
DZA	76.91	111.61	12.01	0.813	+27.90
LBY	88.50	192.97	n/a	0.964	n/a
MRT	37.38	90.77	0.59	n/a	+14.40
JOR	92.53	67.55	7.04	0.650	+27.30
LBN	83.49	73.93	n/a	0.643	+2.59
PSE	86.64	76.69	8.37	n/a	+22.20
SYR	n/a	72.44	6.86	0.443	n/a
IRQ	81.73	101.39	17.23	0.687	+47.80
YEM	n/a	50.89	n/a	0.291	n/a
SDN	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a

Note. Mobile values for Lebanon and Libya are 2022. Comoros, Djibouti and Somalia are at the Nascent stage; their indicator values are not displayed in the 2025 release.

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