Insee Première · June 2023 · n° 1953

15% of the population was digitally illiterate in 2021

In 2021, 15.4% of the population aged 15 or over living in France was affected by digital illiteracy: 13.9% had not used the Internet in the last three months and 1.5% had used it but lacked basic digital skills. In 2021, digital illiteracy increased markedly with age and was more prevalent among people of modest means. In addition, 28% of Internet users had weak digital skills, i.e. they lacked skills in one, two or three of the five areas of finding information, communicating online, using software, protecting privacy and solving problems online. Protecting privacy was the area of skill least mastered, while almost all Internet users knew how to communicate via the Internet.

Digital illiteracy has decreased by 3 points between 2019 and 2021, in the context of the health crisis. Skills related to using software and finding information online have become particularly widespread.