Archive:E-government statistics

Data from Month Year, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

Online interactions of European businesses and citizens with public administrations

This article highlights the development and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for interacting with public administrations in the European Union (EU). This is one aspect of e-government, which is designed to improve public services and democratic processes by means of the Internet. Inclusion and better public services are part of the third priority of the i2010 initiative of the European Commission.

Main statistical findings

• Obtaining information is the most frequent type of electronic interaction with public administrations, followed by the downloading of forms and the returning of completed forms.

• There is a steady increase in the proportion of individuals and businesses interacting with public authorities via the Internet in the European Union.

• The proportion of enterprises interacting with public bodies over the Internet is higher and growing faster than the proportion of individuals from 2004 to 2007.

• Finland is the EU Member State with the highest proportion of companies returning completed forms over the Internet and the Netherlands progressed most between 2004 and 2007 for returning completed forms.

• Considering the size, a higher percentage of large companies interact online with public authorities.

• More than one third of Internet users have already profited from e-government services and another 37% would be interested in doing so.

• Educational levels influence the degree of usage and interest in e-government services.

• The lack of personal contact is the reason most often given for abstaining from using e-government services.

• There is a relation between the types of e-government services requested and a citizen's profile based on age, professional and social status

Development of e-government services usage

Graph 1: Online interaction of enterprises during reference year and of individuals during last 3 months with public authorities in EU-27, 2004 - 2007

The most frequent type of interaction with public administrations over the Internet is obtaining information, followed by downloading official forms. Returning completed forms is the less frequent type of interaction. In 2006, figures for downloading official forms by enterprises reached the same level as for obtaining information. The percentage of interaction of enterprises compared to individuals is much higher. In 2007, 58% of European enterprises compared to 18% of individuals downloaded official forms. The discrepancy is even higher for returning completed forms. The difference in the percentage of interaction between businesses and individuals can be partly explained by the disparity in Internet access and connection. 93% of businesses have Internet connections, compared to only 54% of households in 2007. In addition, businesses are likely to have more interactions with public authorities. These interactions offer a high potential for automating business processes. However, the actual level of interactions with public administrations is also determined by the latter's on-line availability. Finally, the reference period for enterprises was one year and three months for individuals.

The highest increase in 2005 for both enterprises and individuals was for downloading forms, whereas in 2006, the interaction "returning completed forms" showed the highest growth rates. This type of interaction is very interesting for economising as it has the potential to be fully automated. From the public administration side, receiving completed forms represents a first step towards full electronic case handling. In 2007, all three types of interactions increase considerably for individuals, whereas the growth rate for enterprises lacks behind.

E-government services and enterprises

In 2007, more than half of the enterprises in the European Union obtained information or downloaded official forms from public authorities' websites. 45% of the enterprises returned completed forms to public administrations. Fewer than 10% of the enterprises submitted a proposal using an electronic tendering system.

Table 1: Online interaction of enterprises with public authorities, 2007

	Obtaining information	Downloading forms	Sending filled forms	Submitting a proposal in an electronic tender system
All enterprises	57	58	45	9
Large enterprises	72	79	72	17
Medium-sized enterprises	72	74	63	14
Small enterprises	54	55	42	7
Enterprises with broadband connection	64	65	52	10
Enterprises with narrowband connection	50	49	36	6

Graph 2: Any online interaction of enterprises with public authorities by size class and type of Internet connection in EU-27, 2007

The proportion of interaction between businesses and public administrations varies with the bandwidth of the Internet connection and the size of the enterprise. A higher percentage of enterprises with broadband, compared to narrowband connections, interact with public authorities. The largest divergence between enterprises is due to their size. 79% of the large enterprises and 74% of the medium-sized enterprises download forms from public websites. Large enterprises take more advantage of using the Internet for interacting with public administrations.

broadband

Table 2: Enterprises returning completed forms online, 2004-2007

	EU-27	BE	BG	CZ	DK	DE	EE	IE	EL	ES	FR	IT	CY	LV	LT	LU	HU	MT	NL	AT	PL	PT	RO	SI	SK	FI	SE	UK	IS	NO
2004	28	26	9	24	:	17	54	32	45	32	:	35	11	15	30	26	23	:	27	47	68	50	12	36	18	61	53	12	:	40
2005	33	33	11	32	56	24	50	42	56	35	:	29	9	15	52	:	:	45	44	41	60	52	:	45	16	71	48	19	:	59
2006	44	37	23	32	55	37	54	56	76	38	51	49	8	21	56	32	28	35	61	54	56	54	13	49	45	78	53	38	81	62
2007	45	37	29	34	61	43	58	69	77	38	59	35	14	26	60	35	44	49	73	54	56	66	20	61	56	78	55	40	:	61

The proportion of companies returning completed forms increased at the European level (EU-27) from 28% to 45% between 2004 and 2007. The development accelerated from 2005 to 2006 but almost stagnated in 2007. The stagnation is caused by Belgium, Spain, Italy, Austria, Poland and Finland, whereas in some Member States there has been a considerable increase in 2007, namely in Ireland, Hungary, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia. The countries with the largest percentage of interacting companies in 2007 are Finland, followed by Greece and the Netherlands. Taking into account the initial level in 2004, the highest increase can be recognised the Netherlands, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. On the level of the European Union, the probability of enterprises to return completed forms online to public administrations has more than doubled between 2004 and 2007.

E-government services and the citizens

Graph 3: Replacement of personal contacts or visits to public services with the Internet in EU-27, 2006

Interest in using e-government services

More than a third (35%) of individual Internet users within the European Union in 2006 have already used e-government services and another 37% would be interested in replacing personal visits to public authorities with services via the Internet. However, 28% are not interested in requesting services from public authorities online. Iceland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Estonia have the highest percentage of Internet users who already use e-government services in the European Union. The highest proportion of Internet users who are not interested in e-government services can be found in Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Ireland. There is a tendency for Member States with a high percentage of e-government users to show a lower percentage of potential users.

Table 3: Replacement of personal contacts or visits to public services with Internet, 2006

	EU-27	BE	BG	CZ	DK	DE	EE	IE	EL	ES	FR	IT	CY	LV	LT	LU	HU	MT	NL	AT	PL	PT	RO	SI	SK	FI	SE	UK	IS	NO
E-government users	35	22	29	14	57	49	50	37	19	:	40	21	11	12	32	25	18	:	53	35	14	41	9	45	18	25	32	29	79	43
Interested	37	34	40	32	16	36	17	15	35	:	:	41	62	26	24	43	45	:	16	21	42	22	40	23	44	44	19	53	8	17
Not interested	28	44	31	55	25	15	32	47	46	:	:	34	27	61	44	32	37	:	29	44	44	38	51	32	39	24	48	18	13	40

Graph 4: Replacement of personal contacts or visits to public services with Internet in EU-27, 2006

Education is a factor influencing the ability and willingness of individuals to replace personal visits to public authorities by e-government services. Those with a higher degree of education are more likely to use e-government services, whereas the proportion of persons not interested in e-government services is the highest for those with low educational backgrounds. Remarkable differences can be seen for urban, intermediate and rural areas, primarily in the percentage of Internet users not interested in e-government. Internet users in rural areas are less interested than Internet users in urban areas, although they may benefit more from using e-government services due to the longer distances needed to travel to authorities in rural areas.

Reasons for abstaining from e-government services

Graph 5: Reasons for abstaining from e-government services in EU-27, 2006

Citizens were asked for the reasons why they would not like to use online government services. The most mentioned obstacle was missing personal contacts followed by concernons on data protection and security. The complexity of online applications and the availability was mentioned by 15% of the citizens. 13% missed an immediate response. This motivation might be closely related to personal contacts. Only 7% of the citizens are concerned about additioal costs incurred by online government services.

Use of e-government services by type of service

Graph 6: E-government participation by types of e-government services in EU-27, 2006

Interest among Internet users in accessing specific services on-line is dependent on the personal situation of the individual. Unemployed persons want to be able to use different services than, say, students. Nevertheless, there are a number of general services, which are of interest to all persons between the ages of 16 and 74. The usage of these services, such as requesting personal documents, health-related services, moving announcements, requesting certificates and car registrations are very much the same. Roughly two thirds of Internet users are interested in using or are already using these services. The percentage of actual usage of those online services has to be considered in relation to their rather rare frequency.

Use of e-government services by employment situation

Graph 7: E-government participation by types of services and population group in EU-27, 2006

Declaration of income taxes, searching for jobs and online visits of public libraries are those services that have the highest percentage of users within the European Union. However, the interest of citizens in declaring income taxes and searching for jobs is lower than the interest in the other services.

Data sources and availability

Abbreviations

EU-27 (European Union, including 27 Member States); BE (Belgium), BG (Bulgaria), CZ (Czech Republic), DK (Denmark), DE (Germany), EE (Estonia) , IE (Ireland), EL (Greece), ES (Spain), FR (France), IT (Italy), CY (Cyprus), LV (Latvia), LT (Lithuania), LU (Luxembourg), HU (Hungary), MT (Malta), NL (Netherlands), AT (Austria), PL (Poland), PT (Portugal), RO (Romania), SI (Slovenia), SK (Slovakia), FI (Finland), SE (Sweden), UK (United Kingdom); IS (Iceland), NO (Norway).

Symbols

“:” confidential, unreliable or unavailable

Aggregation of results

An EU-27 aggregate is only calculated if the available countries represent at least 55% of the number of Member States and at least 60% of the EU population.

Community Survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals (2004-07)

Reference period: the first quarter of the reference year. Survey period: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Scope (individuals): individuals aged 16 to 74 years; Scope (households): households with at least one member in the age group 16 to 74. Internet users: Individuals who have used the Internet within the last 3 months Highest completed level of education: - Low: ISCED 0, 1 or 2 (no formal education, primary education or lower secondary education); - Medium: ISCED 3 or 4 (upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education); - High: ISCED 5 or 6 (tertiary programmes which normally require successful completion of ISCED 3 or 4, or second stage tertiary education leading to an advanced research qualification).

Community Survey on ICT usage and E-commerce in enterprises (2004-07)

Reference period: January of the reference year for most variables, the previous year for e-government variables. Survey period: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Scope: enterprises with 10 or more persons employed in selected activities (see below). Size class breakdowns: Small enterprises: 10 – 49 persons employed Medium enterprises: 50 -249 persons employed Large enterprises: 250 and more persons employed Activity coverage: enterprises classified in the following sections and groups of the NACE Rev.1.1 classification: D (manufacturing); F (construction); G (distributive trades); 55.1 and 55.2 of section H (hotels and accommodation); I (transport, storage and communication); K (real estate, renting and business activities) 92.1 and 92.2 of section O (motion picture, video, radio and television activities).

Context

The development and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for interacting with public administrations in the [[European Union (EU) is one aspect of e-government, which is designed to improve public services and democratic processes by means of the Internet. Inclusion and better public services are part of the third priority of the i2010 initiative of the European Commission.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

• Title of the publication

Main tables

• Information society statistics, see:

i2010 Benchmarking indicators (t_isoc_pi_benchmark)

Individuals using the Internet for interaction with public authorities (tin00105)

Individuals using the Internet for returning filled in forms to public authorities (tin00106)

Enterprises using the Internet for interaction with public authorities (tin00107)

Enterprises using the Internet for returning filled in forms to public authorities (tin00108)

Enterprises using the Internet for submitting a proposal in a public electronic tender system to public authorities (tin00109)

Database

• Information society statistics, see:

Policy indicators (isoc_pi)

i2010 benchmarking indicators (isoc_pibi)

Benchmarking indicator: Public services - eGovernment (isoc_pibips)

e2005 Policy indicators (isoc_pi05)

Policy indicator: e-government (isoc_pi_d)

Dedicated section

• Information Society

Other information

• Regulation 808/2004 concerning Community statistics on the information society
• Commission Regulation (EC) 1031/2006 implementing Regulation (EC) No 808/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Community statistics on the information society
• Regulation 847/2007 implementing Regulation (EC) No 808/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Community statistics on the information society
• Regulation 960/2008 implementing Regulation (EC) No 808/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning Community statistics on the information society

External links

• i2010 Strategy of the European Commission

See also

• Information society statistics
• Information society statistics at regional level