Mobile phones, the internet and computers are the key components of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Access to mobile phones and the internet has expanded rapidly in the last decade in India. But to be able to effectively use these technologies to communicate, learn and work requires technical skills.
ICT skills cover a broad range of abilities, from more basic skills such as the ability to send messages, to more advanced ones like software programming.
India is a signatory to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is to "substantially increase the proportion of young people and adults with ICT skills by 2030".[1] The National Statistics Office's Comprehensive Annual Modular Survey (CAMS, 2023) is a nationally representative household survey that covers more than one million individuals. The CAMS collected data on the prevalence of nine ICT skills listed in the SDGs.[2]
ICT skills
The most common ICT skill among Indians is the ability to send text messages with an attachment via e-mail or via messaging services such as WhatsApp. More than half of Indian adults can send messages with an attached file.[3] In comparison, just half as many, or a quarter of adults, can send emails.
Nearly half of adults can also use copy and paste tools to move data or documents including files and folders on a computer. One in five Indians can install and configure software (including mobile applications), use hardware such as printers and flash drives, and can transfer files between computers and other devices.
At the more technically advanced end of the spectrum, just one in ten Indians can use spreadsheets and create presentations. Programming or writing code on a computer is the least common ICT skill among Indians. Only 1% of Indians report that they are able to write computer programs or write code in specialised languages.
The nature of the ICT skills Indians are more comfortable with may in part be as a result of the widespread adoption of mobile phones, but the slow uptake of the use of computers. More than eight in ten Indian adults can now use mobile phones, but only two in ten can use computers.
Who in India has better ICT skills?
Younger Indians have adopted ICT skills quickly. Indians in their twenties are more likely to have ICT skills than any other age group. Teenagers are better at most ICT skills than individuals in their thirties.
The ability to use ICT skills among young Indians is comparable to that in most emerging countries such as Russia, Brazil and Bangladesh, but is lower than in advanced economies such as Canada and Japan.[4]
Older Indians, on the other hand, are less likely to have any ICT skill - less than one in ten above the age of 50 can send and receive emails, for instance.
The rural-urban gap in ICT skills is also significant. The share of urban residents who can receive and send emails is twice that of rural residents. The rural-urban gap increases with the relative difficulty level of the skill.
There is also a significant gender gap, with men twice as likely as women to have most ICT skills. The gender gap in urban areas is narrower than that in rural areas.
Higher education greatly improves the uptake of ICT skills. Only 7% of Indian adults with a primary education can send and receive emails. At the other end, 76% of those with a higher education can do the same.
Indians living in richer states with higher levels of education have higher levels of ICT skills.
Maharashtra leads other large states in terms of prevalence of ICT skills among adults, despite having relatively lower per capita income than many southern states. Some north-eastern states have better ICT skills among their adults than many large states.
[1] United Nations - Sustainable Development Goals Target 4.4.1, under Technical and vocational skills (4.4): Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
[2] The survey only asks respondents above 15 years of age who can use either a smartphone or a computer if they have these skills. Respondents are asked if they had these ICT skills in the three months preceding the survey. They are not required to demonstrate their ability with the skill. The sample size was 1.3 million people.
[3] Messages include emails, short texts sent over SMS or messaging service apps such as WhatsApp
[4] The International Telecommunications Union compiles data on ICT skills across more than 80 countries. We compare data for India from the NSSO survey with ITU data for the same age group (15-24). Data, however, is not available for the same year for all countries. For the purpose of this analysis, we consider any data between 2018 and 2023 as comparable.
