The Impact of Digital Skills on Economic Growth in the European Union

This paper examines whether digital skills contribute to economic growth in the 27 EU member states between 2017 and 2023. The authors measure digital skills using four indicators: internet use, companies providing ICT training, the number of ICT specialists, and the number of ICT graduates. They compare these factors with GDP per person while also considering other influences such as trade, employment, inflation and differences between newer and older EU member states.

The main finding is that digital skills are positively associated with economic growth, but not all aspects of digital skills appear equally important. ICT graduates are the strongest digital-skills factor, followed by ICT specialists, workplace ICT training and internet use. Trade and employment are also major contributors to GDP per person, while newer EU member states tend to have lower GDP per person than older member states. The authors argue that having people with the right digital knowledge helps countries make better use of technology, improve productivity and encourage innovation.

Overall, the paper argues that governments should invest more in digital education, training and ICT infrastructure if they want to support long-term economic growth. It also highlights that digital skills are unevenly distributed across the EU, so some countries risk falling behind as technology develops. The authors acknowledge two main limitations: they could only use four of the six DESI digital-skills indicators because of data availability, and the study covers only seven years.