Gender Digital Gap in Spain 2026: Official 2025 Data

The National Observatory of Technology and Society (ONTSI), attached to Red.es and the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Service, has published the 2026 edition of its annual report on the gender digital gap. This publication, presented on the occasion of International Women's Day, uses data corresponding to the year 2025 as the latest available reference period in national and international statistical sources.

The study positions itself as a primary source for assessing the position of women in the Spanish digital transformation. Unlike perception surveys, this report contrasts hard indicators of internet use, skill levels, education, employment, and online security, allowing for an objective verification of progress and the persistence of inequality.

2025 data confirm that the gap in basic internet access has been drastically reduced. In Spain, weekly internet use exceeds 95% of the population, being slightly higher among women than among men. Only 2.8% of women report never having used the internet, compared to 3.1% of men, indicating near-total parity in general connectivity.

However, inequality is concentrated in the oldest age groups. Among people aged 75 or over, the gap reverses and widens: 55.5% of men have used the internet at some point, compared to 46.7% of women. Regarding weekly use, the difference is 43.8% for men and 39.1% for women, suggesting that digital disconnection disproportionately affects older women.

In the area of skills, Spain is above the European average. 65.9% of Spanish women have at least basic digital skills, a figure that exceeds the European Union average by more than 10 percentage points. This data reflects solid digital literacy in the adult female population, although it does not eliminate differences in the depth of skills.

The gap persists in areas of higher specialization. While basic skills are widespread, differences appear in technological education and the adoption of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. Women show a smaller base in these advanced areas, which limits their ability to participate in high-value-added digital roles.

The report highlights a significant advance in employment: the number of female digital specialists in Spain has doubled in the last decade, reaching 200,100 workers in 2024. This growth positions Spain as the third country in the EU with the most female professionals in technology, behind only Germany and France.

Despite this increase, female presence remains a minority. Women represent 19.6% of the total of digital specialists, a tenth of a point above the European average (19.5%). The distribution is uneven: in some digital professions they account for more than half of hires, but in areas such as software engineering or cybersecurity, their presence remains limited, evidencing a glass ceiling in technical specialization.

A critical aspect highlighted by the report is the security differential. A significant volume of women suffers from practices of control, harassment, and violence in the online environment. This reality makes digital violence a structural factor that conditions women's participation, trust, and freedom of expression on the network.

Security is not just a technical issue, but a social one. The perception of risk and the real experience of harassment deter many women from actively participating in digital communities, debate forums, or e-commerce platforms, which widens the participation gap beyond technical skills.

These findings are framed within the Spain Digital 2026 strategy, the country's roadmap for digital transformation. This agenda, updated since its launch in 2020, includes cross-cutting axes such as PERTE and the Retech initiative, with the aim of achieving sustainable economic growth and social cohesion.

Digital inclusion is a fundamental pillar of this strategy. The persistence of the gender gap, especially in advanced skills and specialized employment, represents a challenge for achieving equality and productivity goals. Public policies must address not only access, but advanced training and online security to guarantee full participation of women in the digital economy.