The UK is out of the top ten in the latest network readiness index, said a research report by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Denmark is the world's most networked economy, followed by Sweden and Switzerland, according to the WEF's Global Information Technology Report.

The UK came in 12th behind countries including the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea.

The readiness index measures factors such as infrastructure environment, business readiness, political and regulatory environment, covering issues such as cost of broadband, internet use and government usage of IT.

Despite being ranked as the 2nd most sophisticated financial market, the UK was ranked 14th out of 127 in the category for the highest capacity for innovation, which was topped by Germany.

In terms of successful promotion of IT by government, the UK was one of the worst performers in Western Europe, taking 54th place.