Data extracted in January 2025. Planned article update: 31 March 2026.
Highlights
In 2023, 89% of households in the European Neighbourhood East countries Georgia and Azerbaijan had access to the internet. This was close to the EU average of 93%.
More than one third of enterprises in the European Neighbourhood East countries Moldova (39%), Georgia (37%) and Ukraine (35%; 2021) had their own website in 2023. In comparison, more than three quarters (78%) of EU enterprises had their own website.
In the European Neighbourhood East countries Azerbaijan and Ukraine, 91% and 87% of the adult population, respectively, used the internet daily in 2023. This was slightly more than in the EU (86%).
This article is part of an online publication. It presents information on technology and on research and development for five European Neighbourhood Policy-East (ENP-East) countries, namely, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, compared with the European Union (EU). Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are also candidate countries, the European Council having granted Moldova and Ukraine candidate status on 23 June 2022 and Georgia on 14 December 2023. This article does not contain any data on Belarus, as statistical cooperation with Belarus has been suspended as of March 2022.
Data shown for Georgia exclude the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia over which the government of Georgia does not exercise control. The data managed by the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova does not include data from the Transnistrian region over which the government of the Republic of Moldova does not exercise control. Since 2014, data for Ukraine generally exclude the illegally annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol and the territories which are not under control of the Ukrainian government. As of 2022, data on Ukraine is limited due to reporting units being exempted from mandatory data submission to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine under the martial law, effective as of 3 March 2022, following Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
The article presents a range of technology and research and development (R&D) indicators such as the shares of households and enterprises with internet access, fixed and mobile telephone penetration rates, enterprises’ use of ICT, individuals’ frequency of internet use, and gross domestic expenditure on R&D by source of funds.
Enterprises and households with internet access
The data presented in Figure 1 underlines the evolving landscape of internet access in various countries, highlighting significant progress and variations in connectivity over the decade.
Overall, most of the enterprises in the ENP-East countries had internet access in 2023, with close to full coverage in Georgia and rates around the 90% mark in both Moldova and Ukraine. At 70%, internet access was somewhat less common among enterprises in Azerbaijan.
A high proportion of households in the ENP-East countries had internet access, albeit slightly lower than the proportion of enterprises. Azerbaijan was the exception, with household internet access much higher than that of enterprises. Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine (2021 data) and Armenia recorded rates between 80% and 89% in 2023. Despite a doubling over the last decade, the share of households with internet access was considerably lower in Moldova.
Moldova experienced significant growth in household internet access between 2013 and 2023, from 35% to 71%, an increase of 36 percentage points (pp). Internet access was substantially more common for Moldovan enterprises, with 92% in 2023 (2013 data not available).
In 2013, 38% of households had internet access in Georgia. By 2023, this share had risen to 89%, an increase of 51 pp. Almost all enterprises in Georgia had internet access already in 2015 (2013-2014 data not available), with a share of 98%. By 2023, this share had edged even higher to 99%.
The development with respect to internet access was completely different between households and enterprises in Ukraine. In 2013, 42% of households had internet access. However, by 2021 (more recent data not available) the share had almost doubled to 83% (+41 pp). For the enterprises, the share with internet access declined over the period, from an almost complete coverage, 97% in 2014 (2013 data not available), to 89% in 2023 ( 8 pp).
In Armenia, 44% of households had internet access in 2013. The share had almost doubled by 2023, to 80% (+36 pp). Data on internet access of enterprises are not available neither for 2013 nor 2023 for Armenia.
Azerbaijan witnessed relatively little change in the rate of enterprises with internet access between 2013 and 2023, rising by just 2 pp from 68% to 70%. Meanwhile, household internet access increased from 72% in 2013 to 89% in 2023 (+17 pp).
In the EU, internet access witnessed a notable increase over the decade. In 2013, 96% of enterprises and 77% of households had internet access. These figures rose to 99% (+3 pp) for enterprises and 93% (+16 pp) for households in 2023, reflecting almost complete connectivity across society.
.png)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_in_en2), (isoc_ci_in_h), (enpe_isco_ci_in_ens) and (enpe_isoc_ci_in_h).
Telephone penetration rates by mode
The data provided in Figure 2 shows the shift from fixed to mobile telecommunications over the decade between 2013 and 2023, with mobile subscriptions recording substantial growth and fixed telephone lines decreasing in importance.
The penetration rates are calculated as the number of fixed telephone lines and mobile subscriptions, respectively, per thousand inhabitants.
In Moldova, data for fixed telephone lines is unavailable. Nonetheless, the number of mobile subscriptions per thousand inhabitants increased significantly, by 71.8% during the period under review, reaching 2 139 subscriptions per thousand inhabitants by 2023. This high rate, corresponding to more than two subscriptions per inhabitant, could be due to mobile users having more than one subscription in order to meet various personal or work-related needs, for example separate private and professional subscriptions and/or additional subscriptions to supplement data capacity. The increase could also result from a change in subscriptions within the year.
Georgia already had a much higher penetration rate for mobile subscriptions than for fixed telephone lines in 2013. In 2013, the penetration rate for fixed telephone lines was 157 per thousand inhabitants, while for mobile subscriptions it stood at 1 187. By 2023, the rate of fixed telephone lines had halved to 74 (-52.7%), whereas mobile subscriptions penetration had risen by close to one quarter (+24.7%) to 1 481.
In 2013, there were 252 fixed telephone lines and 1 380 mobile subscriptions per thousand inhabitants in Ukraine. However, 2023 data are not available for Ukraine.
In Armenia, fixed telephones still have a certain importance. The ratio of fixed telephone lines was 574 per thousand inhabitants in 2013, by far the highest among the ENP-East countries. As in Georgia, the number of fixed telephone lines halved over the period, to 288 per thousand inhabitants (-49.8%) in 2023. Despite this decline, the ratio of fixed telephone lines was still the highest among these countries. In contrast, the penetration rate of mobile subscriptions was roughly at a similar level as those in Georgia and Azerbaijan. The ratio of mobile subscriptions stood at 1 107 in 2013. By 2023, the rate of mobile subscriptions had risen to 1 336 per thousand inhabitants, an increase of one fifth (+20.7%).
Azerbaijan showed relatively stable penetration rates for both fixed telephone lines and mobile telephone subscriptions between 2013 and 2023. The rate of fixed telephone lines decreased much less than in Georgia and Armenia, by only -10.2% from 158 per thousand inhabitants in 2013 to 142 in 2023. The change in the rate of mobile subscriptions was even more modest, with an increase of just 3.6% from 1 046 per thousand inhabitants in 2013 to 1 083 in 2023.
Data on fixed telephone lines and mobile subscriptions are not available for the EU.
.png)
Enterprises using information and communication technology
The data in Figure 3 presents trends in information and communication technology (ICT) adoption among enterprises, reflecting changes in use of technology and digital presence.
Among the ENP-East countries for which data are available, the vast majority of enterprises in Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine were using computers in the most recent reference year. However, only around a third of the enterprises in these countries had a web presence in the form of their own website. The level of ICT and web adaptation was somewhat lower in Azerbaijan, with around three quarters of enterprises using computers but only one fifth having their own website.
In Moldova, 94.0% of enterprises used computers in 2023. However, only 38.7% had their own website. Data are not available for 2013.
Georgia saw decreases in both the use of computers and in the share of enterprises with own websites between 2015 (2013 data not available) and 2023 (2019 data for use of computers). The share of enterprises using computers fell from 98.9% to 96.2%, a slight decrease of 2.7 pp. Nonetheless, almost all enterprises in the country used computers. With respect to the enterprises’ web presence, the share of enterprises that had a website fell much stronger, from 44.3% in 2015 to 36.9% in 2023.
Ukraine also experienced a decline in the share of enterprises using computers, from 93.4% in 2014 (2013 data not available) to 87.9% in 2019 (more recent data not available). In contrast, the share of enterprises with their own website increased from 33.6% in 2014 to 35.3% in 2021 (more recent data not available).
Both with respect to use of computers and to enterprise websites, enterprises in Azerbaijan showed a much lower ICT adoption than in the other ENP-East countries. In 2013, 79.8% of enterprises used computers. By 2023, this share had diminished to 76.5%. While the proportion of enterprises maintaining an own website more than doubled, rising from a mere 9.3% in 2013 to 19.3% in 2023, an increase of 10.0 pp, it remained on the lowest level within the ENP-East countries.
Data for Armenia are not available.
In the EU, the majority of enterprises had a web presence, with the share of enterprises with a website increasing from 71.6% in 2013 to 78.1% in 2023, a plus of 6.5 pp. Data on enterprises using computers in the EU are not available.
.png)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ciweb), (enpe_isoc_ci_cm_ps) and (enpe_isoc_ciweb).
Persons using the internet by frequency of use
The internet is taking an ever more important role in everyday life. This is apparent also in the data on the share of people using the internet daily or at least weekly in the ENP-East countries, presented in Figure 4.
In 2023, Azerbaijan showed some of the highest frequencies of internet use among the countries for which data is available, with 90.5% of the persons aged 15 or more using the internet daily and a further 7.6% using it at least weekly. Together, this meant that close to the complete population (98.1%) were frequent internet users. This frequency in internet use was substantially higher than in the EU the same year.
In Ukraine, the share of frequent internet users was also higher than in the EU, and in total (99.0%) approximately at the same level as in Azerbaijan. More specifically, 87.2% of the adult population reported that they used the internet daily in 2021 (more recent data not available) and another 11.8% that they used it at least weekly although not daily.
Georgia had the lowest proportion of internet users among the ENP-East countries for which data is available, with 81.0% of the adult population using it daily and 5.2% more using it at least weekly.
Data for Armenia and Moldova are not available.
In the EU, 85.9% of the population aged 15 years or more used the internet daily in 2023. In addition, 4.4% reported using it at least weekly.
.png)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ciweb) and Eurostat (enpe_isoc_ifp_fu).
Use of digital skills by type
Digital skills, also called eSkills, are key for the functioning of the digital society. Figure 5 illustrates the use of such skills among the population of the ENP-countries, reflecting evolving technological adoption and proficiency levels over the years. A comparison is made of the use of three specific digital skills in 2017 and 2023, respectively, defined in accordance with the Digital Competence Framework. It is assumed that persons that carried out these activities have the corresponding skills. Therefore, the indicators can be considered as a proxy of persons' digital skills. The data cover the population of working age, i.e. aged 16-74 years old.
The ability to correspond by e-mail is a relatively basic digital skill, both in professional life and in social life. It is part of the composite Digital Skills Indicator (DSI), in the area ‘Communication and collaboration’. However, only relatively low shares of the working age population in Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, the ENP-East countries for which these data are available, had been using this skill within the three months preceding the survey date. Being able to create electronic presentations with presentation software (including text, images, sound, video or charts) is a slightly more complex skill, mainly used in professional contexts. This falls into the DSI area ‘Digital content creation’. The shares of the population using this skill in the previous three months were correspondingly slightly lower than for sending e-mails. Writing code in a programming language is a significantly more complex skill, in the DSI area ‘Digital content creation’, and only smaller proportions of the working age population have this competence and used it within the previous three months prior to the survey.
In Georgia, there were only slight increases in the shares of persons engaged in these specific digital activities between 2017 and 2023. Whereas 13.2% sent e-mails in 2017, this share had only risen by 0.4 pp to 13.6% in 2023. The development was slightly more pronounced for the creation of electronic presentations, with the share of persons using this skill rising from 10.0% in 2017 to 11.5% in 2023. However, the share of persons writing computer programmes was marginal and remained little changed, from 1.0% in 2017 to 1.2% in 2023.
In Ukraine, there was a stronger increase in the use of these digital skills. However, the data availability is more limited, thus data are compared for 2019 (2017 and 2018 data not available) and 2021 (more recent data not available). In 2019, 7.8% of the working age population was sending e-mails. This had more than doubled by 2021, albeit still at a moderate level, to 17.0% in 2021. A somewhat larger share was creating presentations in 2019, with 9.0% of the working age population carrying out this activity. There was a significant increase also for this activity, although not as strong as for sending e-mails, with 15.1% using this skill in 2021. Despite the share of persons writing computer programmes doubling, from 1.1% in 2019 to 2.2% in 2019, this remained an activity only involving a minor share of the population.
Azerbaijan saw by far the most rapid increase in applied digital skills between 2017 and 2023. The shares of persons sending e-mails and creating electronic presentations roughly quadrupled over this period, though from lower levels than in the other ENP-East countries. In 2017, 4.8% of the working age population were sending e-mails and 4.1% were creating electronic presentations. By 2023, these shares had increased to 17.8% and 17.3%, respectively. However, the most striking development was in the share of persons writing computer programmes. In 2017, 0.7% of the working age population were involved in writing computer programmes, close to the levels seen in Georgia and Ukraine. This had increased significantly to 6.8% in 2023, far higher than in the other two countries.
Data for the EU, Armenia and Moldova are not available.
.png)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D by source of funds
Research and development (R&D) is central for economic progress. The data presented in Figure 6 reflects the structures for funding R&D activities in the ENP-East countries and the EU and how these developed from 2017 to 2023. The data show the share of total gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) accounted for by each of the five funding sources: the business sector, the government sector, the higher education sector, the private non-profit sector, as well as R&D funding from abroad (including funding from international organisations).
Overall, the main funding source in the three ENP-East countries for which these data are available, namely Moldova, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, is the government sector, followed by the business sector. The higher education sector and the private non-profit sector play only marginal roles in each of these countries.
In Moldova, there was a change in the structure of R&D expenditure between 2017 and 2023. More than three quarters of the gross domestic R&D expenditure in Moldova came from the government sector, by far the most important source for R&D funding in the country. In 2017, the government sector accounted for 75.8% of gross expenditure on R&D. By 2023, the share of government funding had increased further to 78.3%. A striking development can be discerned in the R&D expenditure funded by the business sector and R&D funding from abroad. Whereas the business sector was the second most important source in 2017, accounting for 17.9% of R&D expenditure, by 2023 the business sector’s share had more than halved to 8.0%. In contrast, the share of R&D expenditure funded from abroad had more than tripled, from 3.7% in 2017 to 11.5% in 2023, becoming the second most important funding source in Moldova. The share of the higher education sector was minor, contributing 2.6% of R&D expenditure in 2017 but decreasing slightly to 2.2% in 2023. Data on the contribution of the private non-profit sector is not available.
The structure of R&D expenditure in Ukraine was different from that observed in Moldova. The government sector was the main source for R&D expenditure also in Ukraine, but at a substantially lower level than in Moldova. In 2017, the government sector accounted for 44.2% of gross domestic R&D expenditure, less than half of the total. By 2023, the share had increased only marginally to 45.1%. Instead, the business sector and R&D funding from abroad played a much more important role. In 2017, almost one third (30.1%) of R&D expenditure was funded by Ukraine’s business sector, rising significantly to 37.2% in 2023. R&D expenditure funded from abroad accounted for close to one quarter (24.4%) of the total in 2017. However, by 2023 the importance of R&D funding from abroad had decreased to 16.4%. R&D expenditure from the higher education sector was of only marginal importance, at 0.2% in 2017 and 0.3% in 2023. The contribution from the private non-profit sector was effectively zero in both 2017 and 2023. It should be noted that the sum of the shares does not equal 100% for Ukraine, as funds for special purposes and funds from other sources are excluded.
Azerbaijan also recorded significant changes in the funding sources for R&D expenditure between 2017 and 2023. In 2017, the government sector accounted for 67.2% of gross domestic R&D expenditure, around two thirds of the total, while the business enterprises sector accounted for 32.0%, almost one third. In 2023, the importance of the government sector had risen to 80.2%, while the share of the business sector had declined to 19.0%. These two sectors accounted for almost all of gross domestic R&D expenditure in Azerbaijan. The other three sectors, the private non-profit sector, funding from abroad and the higher education together accounted for less than 1% of R&D expenditure in both 2017 and 2023.
Data for Armenia and Georgia are not available.
The structure of R&D expenditure in the EU remained relatively stable between 2017 and 2021 (more recent data not available). In comparison with the ENP-East countries, the business sector had a much more important role for R&D expenditure and was by far the most important source. In 2017, the business sector accounted for 59.0% of R&D expenditure in the EU, well over half of the total, and had decreased only slightly to 57.7% by 2021. Despite the much greater role of the business sector, the government sector was important for R&D expenditure also in the EU. The share accounted for by the government sector increased somewhat, from 29.7% in 2017 to 30.3% in 2021. Funding from abroad was also relatively stable, growing from 9.1% in 2017 to 9.7% in 2021. The higher education sector and the private non-profit sector both had minor but not negligible importance, both contributing to R&D expenditure at roughly the same level. The contribution of the higher education sector remained at the same level, at 1.2% of total gross domestic R&D expenditure, in both 2017 and 2021, while the contribution of the private non-profit sector was slightly up from 1.0% to 1.2%.
.png)
Source: Eurostat (rd_e_gerdfund) and (enpe_rd_e_gerdsec)
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
The data for ENP-East countries are supplied by and under the responsibility of the national statistical authorities of each country on a voluntary basis. The data result from an annual data collection cycle that has been established by Eurostat. These statistics are available free-of-charge on Eurostat's website, together with a range of different indicators covering most socio-economic areas.
Information society
Eurostat's survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals and survey on ICT usage in enterprises are separate, annual surveys. The enterprise survey generally covers enterprises with at least 10 persons employed; the activity coverage excludes financial and insurance activities (NACE Rev. 2 Section K). While these surveys initially concentrated on access and connectivity issues, their scope has subsequently been extended to cover a range of subjects, for example, e-government, social media or e-commerce. Within the European statistical system, these two surveys are based on two methodological manuals: one for enterprise statistics and one for statistics related to households and individuals, both of which are updated annually. The definitions laid down in these manuals form the basis for the methodology the ENP-East countries are requested to follow.
Research and development
Eurostat data on research and development (R&D) aim to show a comprehensive picture of the situation in the EU, covering indicators related to expenditure and personnel. The international standards for collecting and reporting data on research and experimental development are specified in the Frascati Manual. The definitions which the ENP countries have been asked to follow when providing data are based on the methodology contained within this manual.
Gross domestic expenditure on R & D (GERD) includes expenditure on R & D by business enterprises, higher education institutions, government and private non-profit organisations, as well as R&D funding from abroad (including international sources).
Context
Information and communication technologies (ICT) affect people's everyday lives in many ways, both at work and at home. The development and expansion of the information society is regarded as critical to improve the competitiveness of the EU, while EU policymakers also seek to regulate areas such as e-commerce or the protection of individuals’ privacy.
In December 2022, European Parliament and Council Decision (EU) 2022/2481 established the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030. This programme aims to encompass social, moral and economic impacts of digital technologies, to promote and drive the digital transformation toward a sustainable and inclusive path in order to reach a fair economy.
Statisticians are well aware of the challenges posed by rapid change in areas related to web services, artificial intelligence (AI), information and communication technologies, etc. As such, there has been considerable development in this area, with statistical tools adapted to satisfy new demands for data. Statistics within this domain are continuously reassessed in order to meet user needs and reflect the rapid pace of technological change.
On 2 July 2021, the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy presented the Eastern Partnership: a Renewed Agenda for cooperation with the EU's Eastern partners. This agenda is based on the five long-term objectives, with resilience at its core, as defined for the future of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in the Joint Communication Eastern Partnership policy beyond 2020: Reinforcing Resilience – an Eastern Partnership that delivers for all in March 2020. It is further elaborated in the Joint Staff Working Document Recovery, resilience and reform: post 2020 Eastern Partnership priorities, amongst others defining the 'Top Ten Targets for 2025'. The Eastern Partnership’s agenda for recovery, resilience and reform is underpinned by an 'Economic and Investment Plan for the Eastern Partnership (EaP): Investing in resilient and competitive economies and societies' (Annex I of the Joint Staff Working Document). More detailed overviews are given in a Factsheet on the Eastern Partnership Joint Communication, presenting the policy objectives and the specific priorities, as well as in a Factsheet on EU-Eastern Neighbourhood flagship projects 2023-2024.
The Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit 'Recovery, Resilience and Reform' of 15 December 2021 reaffirmed the strong commitment to a strategic, ambitious and forward-looking Eastern Partnership.
At the Eastern Partnership Foreign Affairs Ministerial meeting of 11 December 2023, the EU, member states and partners declared that they will step up their efforts to implement the Eastern Partnership’s agenda for recovery, resilience and reform, as well as tackling challenges related to the ongoing consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine for the entire region.
In cooperation with its ENP partners, Eurostat has the responsibility to promote and implement the use of European and internationally recognised standards and methodology for the production of statistics, necessary for designing and monitoring policies in various areas. Eurostat manages and coordinates EU efforts to increase the capacity of the ENP countries to develop, produce and disseminate good quality data according to European and international standards. Additional information on the policy context of the ENP is provided on the website of Directorate-General Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood (ENEST).
Explore further
Other articles
Database
- Research and development, digital society (enpe_sci)
- R&D expenditure (enpe_rd)
- Digital society (enpe_isoc)
- ICT usage in households and by individuals (isoc_i)
- ICT usage in enterprises (isoc_e)
- Research and development (R&D) (rd)
- Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) at national and regional level (rd_e)
Thematic section
Publications
Methodology
- Eastern European Neighbourhood Policy countries (ENP-East) (ESMS metadata file — enpe_esms)
- ICT usage in enterprises (ESMS metadata file — isoc_e)
- ICT usage in households and by individuals (ESMS metadata file — isoc_i)
- Individuals' level of digital skills (ESMS metadata file — isoc_sk_dskl_i21)
- Research and development (R&D) (ESMS metadata file — rd)
External links
- European External Action Service (EEAS): European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and Eastern Partnership (EaP)
- Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood (DG ENEST): European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and Eastern Partnership (EaP).
- Joint Communication JOIN(2020) 7 final: Eastern Partnership policy beyond 2020: Reinforcing Resilience - an Eastern Partnership that delivers for all (18 March 2020)
- Joint Staff Working Document SWD(2021) 186 final: Recovery, resilience and reform: post 2020 Eastern Partnership priorities (2 July 2021)
- Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit: 'Recovery, Resilience and Reform' (15 December 2021)
- Directorate-General Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT)
- European Commission: Shaping Europe’s digital future