Czech Republic is above the EU average in digital skills and 5G coverage

Prague – The Czech Republic is above the EU average in digital skills, 5G mobile coverage, and the digitization of public services. It has made significant progress in previously weaker areas such as artificial intelligence and access to electronic health records. On the other hand, it lags particularly in the area of optical infrastructure and the low representation of women in information and communication technologies (ICT). This is stated in the European Commission’s report on the state of the Digital Decade for 2025, as mentioned by the government office in today’s press release.

The Czech Republic achieved above-average results last year in the area of digital skills, where the share of the population with at least a basic level is 69 percent. Thus, the Czech Republic ranks fifth in the EU. The differences between men and women, between urban and rural residents, and among different education levels are very low. Among young people aged 16 to 24, the level of digital skills reaches nearly 93 percent, which is the third highest share in the EU.

A significant shift has occurred in the area of artificial intelligence. The share of businesses using AI has nearly doubled year-on-year, reaching 11.3 percent. Charles University has also been tasked with coordinating the pan-European strategic project OpenEuroLLM, aimed at creating large language models of a new generation so that Europe is not dependent on external sources in this area.

In the area of digital infrastructure, the Czech Republic is above the EU average in 5G network coverage. More than 99 percent of households are covered by 5G signal, ensuring very good availability even in rural areas. While coverage by optical networks (FTTP) and very high-capacity networks (VHCN) is growing faster than the EU average, their overall level remains below the European average. (June 16)