Zurück e-Government – more citizens consult information online

7. März 2020

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e-Government requires rethinking organisations and processes and changing behaviour so that public services are delivered more efficiently to citizens, through the use of suitable online solutions.

In 2019, 44% of citizens in the European Union reported that they had obtained information from the websites of public authorities during the last 12 months. This was substantially higher than the 33% of citizens reporting the same in 2008. 

Citizens of all ages use public authorities’ websites to obtain information. With 56%, the share of citizens that reported to have done this in the last 12 months was highest among the 25-34 years old. The 35-44 years old followed closely thereafter with 53%. Although older citizens tended to use public authorities’ websites less to get information, almost a quarter (23%) of citizens aged 65-74 had used government websites for this purpose in the last 12 months.       

 
Bar chart: EU citizens who obtained information from websites of public authorities, by age group, 2019
 
Data source: isoc_ciegi_ac
 
The development of e-Government and the availability of online information for citizens vary considerably across the EU Member States, as does the share of citizens that use the internet in general. 
 
In 2019, a large part of the citizens in the Nordic countries had used the websites of public authorities to obtain information: 89% of citizens in Denmark, 84% of citizens in Finland and 79% of citizens in Sweden reported to have done this in the last 12 months. These shares were high also in the Netherlands (76%) and in Estonia (69%). In contrast, only 9% of citizens in Romania had obtained information from public authorities through their websites. This was also not common in Italy (19%) and Bulgaria (20%).  

 

Bar chart: Share of persons that obtained information from websites of public authorities in the last 12 months, by country, 2019

 

Data source: isoc_ciegi_ac 

 
The data in this article are based on the annual survey on use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in households and by individuals. For more information on the statistics available in this area, take a look at the overview of statistics on the digital economy and society
 
Note: 
  • The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.

  • Data in the database are organised according to the survey year; the results above refer to individuals’ experiences during the calendar year prior to the survey.

  • This article marks the Open Data Day, an annual world-wide event aiming to show the benefits of open data and encourage the adoption of open data policies in government, business and civil society.

 
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