MOSCOW, March 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has been placed 50th out of 154 countries in technology development between 2002 and 2007 in a report published by the International Telecommunication Union.

Monday's report said that all the countries, with the exception of Myanmar, had improved over the five-year period.

The ratings were made using 11 indicators for each country, including the number of Internet users, level of education and literacy rate, access to stationary and mobile telephones, as well as wideband digital networks.

First place in the development of information and communication was taken by Sweden, followed by South Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Iceland. Britain was 10th and the U.S. took 17th place in the ratings.

In comparison with the 2002 report, Russia moved up two positions in the ratings to take 50th position, between Uruguay and Ukraine. Niger took last place.

The International Telecommunication Union is an autonomous UN agency.