OECD · Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index
Digital trade restrictiveness by country
How far do a country's rules restrict services sold across its border over the internet?
Of the 129 countries compared in 2025, 5 countries shared the lowest reading, 0.02124, and Somalia had the highest reading, 0.64938. In the middle country the figure was 0.20551. Among the 129 countries measured in every edition since 2014, the middle one moved from 0.18666 to 0.20551.
Share
Digital trade restrictiveness · 2025
Context statistic
5 countries share the lowest value, 0.02124 — no single country is named first.
012025 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 129 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
Lowest in 2025 · shared
5 countries share the lowest reading, 0.02124
No single country is named first: picking one from a shared value would be a choice the data does not make.
Highest in 2025
Somalia0.64938
Kazakhstan0.60707
Laos0.55931
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Lowest on each continent
- Africa
Mauritania0.06160 - Americas
Costa Rica0.02124 - Asia
Japan0.04247 - Europe
3 countries share 0.02124
- Oceania
Australia0.021243 of 21 measured
- Every region
02Every measured country
Digital trade restrictiveness on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 0.33293–0.64938
- 0.24157–0.33150
- 0.16502–0.24150
- 0.08287–0.16222
- 0.02124–0.06484
- No reading in 2025
- Europe
0.10130
the middle country, of 33 measured · 49 members
3 share 0.02124
Russia0.46760Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Americas
0.14347
the middle country, of 19 measured · 48 members
Costa Rica0.02124
Bolivia0.30320Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Asia
0.27692
the middle country, of 20 measured · 52 members
Japan0.04247Kazakhstan0.60707Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Africa
0.28319
the middle country, of 54 measured · 55 members
Mauritania0.06160Somalia0.64938Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
3 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu.
Australia0.02124
New Zealand0.10059Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
20 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Central America
0.06160
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica0.02124
Nicaragua0.18417Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Northern Europe
0.07365
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
2 share 0.02124
Iceland0.20551Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
0.08287
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Switzerland0.02124
Austria0.16222Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Southern Europe
0.10479
the middle country, of 11 measured · 17 members
2 share 0.06091
Bosnia and Herzegovina0.36059Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
0.12322
the middle country, of 5 measured · 10 members
Slovakia0.06160Russia0.46760Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Southern Africa
0.16607
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Namibia0.12182
Eswatini0.34676Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Africa
0.22487
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Mauritania0.06160
Sierra Leone0.50898Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
0.24826
the middle country, of 10 measured · 11 members
Malaysia0.08679Laos0.55931Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- South America
0.26250
the middle country, of 9 measured · 12 members
Ecuador0.04319Bolivia0.30320Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Middle Africa
0.30852
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Republic of the Congo0.17710
Angola0.37514Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Northern Africa
0.35153
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Morocco0.08355
Tunisia0.52769Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Eastern Africa
0.37847
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Uganda0.10492Somalia0.64938Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia0.02124New Zealand0.10059Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Caribbean
1 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic.
Dominican Republic0.04036Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan0.60707Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Asia
3 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Japan, South Korea.
Japan0.04247
China0.28616Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Melanesia
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Vanuatu.
Vanuatu0.06484Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada0.03967
United States0.06091Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Southern Asia
3 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: India, Nepal, Pakistan.
India0.28257
Nepal0.32549Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Asia
3 of 19 measured — too few for a middle: Israel, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye.
Israel0.14026
Türkiye0.32580Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
129 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 0.20551; a quarter are above 0.30852, and a quarter below 0.10127. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 129 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way OECD’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. OECD ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. A higher score is more restrictive, so position 1 is the most closed country, not the most open. Not every restriction is a failing: rules on where data is stored or how personal data is protected count as barriers here even where they are deliberate policy. Scores move in fixed steps, so several countries can share one — the most open among them.
Showing 25 of 129 countries
Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052014–2025 · 12 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year from 2014, for the same 129 countries throughout. Because every rule carries a fixed weight, a line moves in steps when a regulation changes and stays flat when none does.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 129 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 129 | 0.20551 | 0.10127 – 0.30852 | 0.20551 |
| 2024 | 129 | 0.20541 | 0.10130 – 0.30852 | 0.20541 |
| 2023 | 129 | 0.20254 | 0.10130 – 0.30849 | 0.20254 |
| 2022 | 129 | 0.18769 | 0.10130 – 0.30781 | 0.18769 |
| 2021 | 129 | 0.20254 | 0.10130 – 0.30384 | 0.20254 |
| 2020 | 129 | 0.18769 | 0.10410 – 0.30217 | 0.18769 |
| 2019 | 129 | 0.19834 | 0.10410 – 0.29008 | 0.19834 |
| 2018 | 129 | 0.18769 | 0.10410 – 0.28865 | 0.18769 |
| 2017 | 129 | 0.18769 | 0.10059 – 0.28332 | 0.18769 |
| 2016 | 129 | 0.18769 | 0.08649 – 0.27127 | 0.18769 |
| 2015 | 129 | 0.18738 | 0.08679 – 0.27127 | 0.18738 |
| 2014 | 129 | 0.18666 | 0.10059 – 0.29145 | 0.18666 |
062024 → 2025
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after- Vanuatu0.14419 → 0.06484 · 82nd → 106th−0.07935
- Costa Rica0.04247 → 0.02124 · 121st → 125th−0.02124
129 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.
07Across every edition
Digital trade restrictiveness in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
0.73289
Digital STRI (0 = open, 1 = closed)
Lowest reading on record
0.00000
Digital STRI (0 = open, 1 = closed)
Biggest improvement between editions
−0.36059
0.59157 → 0.23098
Biggest decline between editions
+0.23805
0.12606 → 0.36411
Most improved since first measured
−0.35776
0.73289 → 0.37514
At the top most often
2 of 12
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The parts of the index
Inside the number
OECD publishes the parts the headline is built from. Each part’s highest and lowest country, and its middle value.
| Part | Highest | Lowest | Middle country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure and connectivity (contribution to the index)129 countries | 3 countries share 0.44 | 27 countries share 0.00 | 0.12 |
| Electronic transactions (contribution to the index)129 countries | 2 countries share 0.11 | 14 countries share 0.00 | 0.02 |
| Payment systems (contribution to the index)129 countries | 5 countries share 0.06 | 58 countries share 0.00 | 0.02 |
| Intellectual property rights (contribution to the index)129 countries | 2 countries share 0.11 | 85 countries share 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Other barriers to digitally enabled services trade (contribution to the index)129 countries | 3 countries share 0.13 | 22 countries share 0.00 | 0.02 |
09The measure
About digital trade restrictiveness
The OECD’s Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index scores the rules that make it harder to sell services across a border over the internet — connectivity and data-transfer rules, electronic contracts, payments and intellectual property — from 0 (open) to 1 (closed). It measures how freely digital services can cross a country’s border, not how digital the country is.
What the number is: Digital STRI (0 = open, 1 = closed).
What it does not measure
It scores the rules on the books, not how they are enforced or how much digital trade actually happens, and it counts every restriction as a barrier — including data-protection rules a country may have chosen deliberately.
10Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Mobility & Trade and Digital & Technology, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Mobility & TradeDigital & TechnologyWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where digital trade restrictiveness is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Share of Dietary Energy Supply from Cereals, Roots and TubersFAO · 114 countries in commonρ 0.59
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 124 countries in commonρ 0.56
- Stillbirth RateUN IGME · 129 countries in commonρ 0.56
Moves against
Where digital trade restrictiveness is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Voice and AccountabilityWorld Bank Group · 129 countries in commonρ −0.66
- AI User Share of the Working-Age PopulationMicrosoft AI Economy Institute · 112 countries in commonρ −0.65
- Regulatory QualityWorld Bank Group · 129 countries in commonρ −0.63
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 330 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
11Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The countries at either end
12Questions
Digital trade restrictiveness: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest digital trade restrictiveness?
5 countries share the lowest reading, 0.02124, among the 129 compared in 2025, so no single country is named.
Which country has the highest digital trade restrictiveness?
Somalia, at 0.64938, among the 129 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index cover?
129 in 2025.
What is the world average digital trade restrictiveness?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 129 compared in 2025, the figure was 0.20551.
Is this OECD’s own ranking?
No. OECD publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index published?
This site holds 12 reference years, 2014–2025, all recalculated in OECD’s 2026 report on one method — not 12 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From OECD, under OECD Terms and Conditions — data clause. Read from the OECD’s own SDMX API rather than the World Bank’s Data360 copy, which cuts every value to six decimals. The five pillars are stored beside the headline and add up to it. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
13Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index — OECD
Read from the OECD’s own SDMX API rather than the World Bank’s Data360 copy, which cuts every value to six decimals. The five pillars are stored beside the headline and add up to it.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year 2025
Cite the source as: OECD (2026), Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index, OECD Data Explorer, https://data-explorer.oecd.org/ (accessed on 29 September 2026).
Licence: OECD Terms and Conditions — data clause, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- OECD ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Digital trade restrictiveness by country: Digital Services Trade Restrictiveness Index, data from OECD. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/digital-trade-restrictiveness