Denmark has overtaken South Korea as the world's top country, while Sweden ranked third, followed by Iceland and the UK, emphasizing European dominance in the connectivity stakes, according to the ITU, a leading analyst for information and communication technologies (ICTs).


Hong Kong led Asia, in ninth place in the world rankings, and the United States came14th, behind Switzerland, whose 13th place ranking remained unchanged from last year.

Eight of the top ten countries are in Europe, including all four Scandinavian countries, the report found.

The UK jumped into fifth place from seventh, switching places with the Netherlands, which fell from fifth to seventh place.

The Central African Republic was last, part of a long list of African countries bringing up the tail of the list.


The ITU’s development index takes into account internet and mobile phone access and use, and the population’s competence with the technology.


"Over three billion people are now online and information and communication technology growth remains buoyant in just about every country worldwide," the report said.


Developing countries are well behind, but catching up, with internet usage in 2014 growing 8.7 percent, compared to 3.3 percent in the richer nations.


However, of the 4.3 billion people still unconnected, 90 percent of them are in developing countries, the study found.


That should change, according to the organizers.


"ICTs have the potential to make the world a much better place — in particular for those who are the poorest and the most disenfranchised, including women, youth, and those with disabilities," said ITU secretary general, Hamadoun Toure.

For the full ITU report, check here.