Digitals skills are included in the European Commission’s Recommendation on Key Competences for
Lifelong Learning, which identifies eight key competences among knowledge, employability, social
inclusion, active citizenship, healthy and sustainable lifestyle.
ICT is widespread among young people and according to Eurostat, the current status is that the share of
young people between the age of 16 and 29 reporting basic or above basic overall digital skills in 2021,
varies among the member countries. In more details, country shares range from 93 % in Finland, 92 % in
Malta, 89 % in Croatia and 87 % in Greece and the Netherlands to 49 % and 46 % in Bulgaria and Romania,
respectively, while the EU average stands at 71 % (EUROSTAT)
Assessments on a gender level show that there are no major differences in young people’s digital skills between men and women. However, at a member country level, the are some diversities. The largest gap appears in Croatia where 94 % of young females compared with only 84 % of young males have at least basic digital skills.
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