Bhutan

Highlights

  1. Bhutan received a security preparedness score of 60.77 on the 2024 Global Cybersecurity Index. Its e-government system readiness score is 65.11.
  2. As of 2024, the population of Bhutan was 791,524. The United Nations defines it as a land-locked developing country.
  3. Approximately 87% of the population is an Internet user.
  4. Internet Society gives Bhutan an overall Internet resilience score of 60%, which means it has medium capacity to withstand unexpected faults or challenges to normal operation.
  5. Internet Society rates the choice of Internet service providers as poor.
ccTLD
.bt
Flag of Bhutan
Region
Asia
Sub-region
Southern Asia
Population
791,524
UN classification(s)
  • Land Locked Developing Country
  • Lower middle income country

Internet Usage Permanent link

Internet penetration

87%

of the population used the Internet at least once over a 3-month period

62%
Asia average

Usage by gender

Proportion of the population that uses the Internet, by gender

Note: Measurement methods vary by country.

  • Female: 86%
  • Male: 85%

Urban and rural Internet penetration

Percentage of the population that uses the Internet in rural and urban areas

Note: Measurement methods vary by country.

  • Urban: 97%
  • Rural: 79%

Average download speed

Based on an average of 300 users

  • 26.75 Mbps
    Broadband
  • No data Mbps
    Mobile

Average Internet cost

< 1%

of average income (GNI) is needed to cover a low-consumption basket, using at least 3G technology.

Network Infrastructure Permanent link

Mobile 4G and 5G coverage

  • 87%
    has access to at least one device with 4G mobile Internet
  • 28%
    has access to at least one device with 5G mobile Internet

Active networks

The building blocks of the Internet, identified by Autonomous System (AS) numbers.

25
active networks

International connections

Routes to the global Internet

Upstream diversity is

Fair
More than 2 connections to the global Internet improves the ability to recover from unexpected events.

Adoption of IPv6

29%
of users can access online resources using IPv6, the new generation of the Internet Protocol
41%
Asia average

Market Overview Permanent link

Data centers

Number of data centers in operation

3

active data centers

Internet Exchange Points

1

IXP in Bhutan

5
Asia average
64% of 25

active networks connect via an IXP

Total number of IXP members in Bhutan

Locally cached content

46%

of the top 1000 websites in Bhutan can be accessed through an in-country server or cache

52%
Asia average

Top Internet service providers

Top Internet Service Providers (ISPs) by market share

  • Tashicell Domestic AS Thimphu Bhutan: 43%
  • Bhutan Telecom Ltd: 42%
  • Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag Administration: 3%
  • NANO, Bhutan: 3%
  • Gelephu Digital Network: 3%

Market competition

Poor

market competitiveness for Internet customers and end users

Digital public services rating

The UN's measure of a country's e-government ecosystem readiness

65.11

Country-level domain use

2,470

domains registered using .bt, the country code top-level domain (ccTLD).

Security Permanent link

Global Cybersecurity Index

Estimates the ability of a country or economy to prevent and manage cyber incidents

61 / 100

Routing security practices

The use of resource public key infrastructure (RPKI), which connects IP prefixes to the correct autonomous system (AS)

ROA

Route origin authorization uses a cryptographic signature to certify network announcements

  • 98%
    of IPv4 prefixes protected
  • 100%
    of IPv6 prefixes protected

ROV

Route origin validation filters out route announcements

  • 34%
    of networks are using ROV to filter out invalid prefixes and networks

DNSSEC status

  • Active

DNSSEC coverage

< 1%

of all domains under the ccTLD are protected with DNSSEC

< 1%
Asia average

Adoption of DNSSEC

96%

of DNS queries are protected by DNSSEC, across all web traffic

35%
Asia average

Footnotes Permanent link

Pulse uses the most recent possible data from international sources. For some indicators in Pulse, the source data may be updated more frequently. For more information on how often we update individual data points, see the Indicator page.