According to a Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) survey, only 12% of national households have access to at least one computer/tablet or laptop. The Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) survey studied internet, smartphone, and computer penetration across a sample of 176,790 households in rural and urban areas of all the four provinces of Pakistan. The survey has also collected information on a range of other social subjects like education and health.
The findings of the survey revealed that geographic development has a strong correlation with the availability of computers. For example, the survey shows that the percentage of computers in a household is higher by 19% in urban areas than rural areas.
A province wise analysis shows that Punjab has the highest computer penetration, with 13% of households in Punjab having access to a computer and the lowest penetration is in Balochistan, with only 6% of households having access to a computer.
The penetration of computers and PCs is far less than mobile/smartphone penetration which stands at 93% according to the same survey. A proliferation of inexpensive cell phones and data packages has increased its penetration into mainstream society quickly than computers and other digital devices.
Leave a Reply