How’s life in the digital age in Belgium?
Compared to other OECD countries, Belgium benefits from the opportunities of the digital transformation, but is also relatively heavily exposed to its risks. People in Belgium make use of large variety of Internet uses, including in specific dimensions, such digital social networking and online consumption. Belgium also ranks relatively high when it comes to digital skills, and the digital skills gap is one of the smallest of the OECD. Exposure to disinformation is relatively uncommon in Belgium, with 13% of people reporting having encountered disinformation in the last week, well below the OECD average. At the same time, online political and civic engagement is comparatively low: only 6% of individuals report having uploaded such posts in the last 3 months. There are several domains in which Belgium is particularly exposed to the risk of the digital transformation. Workers in Belgium are at relatively high risk of job stress and worries about work when not working due to having computer-based jobs. In addition, the level of extreme Internet use of children is above the OECD average. The environment is another domain where Belgium is exposed to risks, with a relatively high level of e-waste per person.
Note: This wheel depicts Belgium’s relative performance in terms of key opportunities and risks in the context of the digital transformation. The centre of the wheel corresponds to the lowest outcome observed across all OECD countries, while the outer circle corresponds to the highest outcome. For opportunities (in dark blue) longer bars indicate better outcomes, whereas for risks (in yellow), longer bars indicate worse outcomes. If data are missing for any given indicator, the relevant segment of the circle is shaded in white.