Data extracted in February 2025
Planned article update: February 2026
Highlights
In 2024, 70% of EU citizens interacted with public authorities online in the preceding 12 months, with top users in Denmark (99%), the Netherlands (96%), Finland and Sweden (both 95%). #eGovernment
In 2024, 44% of EU citizens used e-government services in the previous 12 months to obtain information about services, benefits, laws, opening hours or similar.
Individuals who used a website or app of a public authority in the last 12 months, 2024
The digital transformation has reshaped many aspects of our daily lives, including interactions between governments and citizens across the EU. Effective digital public services, or e-government, can make government services more accessible, transparent and efficient. In this, electronic identification (eID) serves as a person's digital passport, allowing them to verify their identity online and securely access services over the internet.
The European Commission's Digital Decade programme has set out the target that by 2030 all key public services need to be accessible via the internet, as well as everyone having the option to use eID to identify themselves online. But are citizens using the e-government and eID solutions that are available to them?
This article delves into recent statistical data on the use of e-government and eID across the EU and shows how this varies between countries and different population groups. The statistics come from the EU survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals.
Modernised public interaction: e-government use in the EU
In 2024, 70% of people aged 16-74 years in the EU stated that they had used a website or app of a public authority in the previous 12 months. However, this value varied greatly when looking at EU countries individually: over 90% of people had used e-government in the last 12 months in Denmark (99%), the Netherlands (96%), Finland and Sweden (both 95%). Meanwhile, the same was true for only 32% of people in Bulgaria and 25% of people in Romania. Similar to its EU neighbours, Norway had a very high value of e-government use at 99% (see Figure 1).
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ciegi_ac)
Looking at different e-government activities in more detail reveals that, in 2024, people stated that they used e-government services in the previous 12 months most often to obtain information about services, benefits, laws, opening hours or similar (44%). This was followed by the accessing of personal information (40%), and the downloading or printing of official forms (38%) (see Figure 2).
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ciegi_ac)
Identifying yourself online: eID use in the EU
Electronic identification (eID) allows people to securely verify their identity and access services across the EU. Looking at data from 2023, 41% of people aged 16-74 years in the EU stated that they had used their eID to access online services for private purposes in the previous 12 months. The result in individual EU countries varied from over 90% in Denmark (98%), the Netherlands (95%), Finland (94%) and Sweden (93%), to under 10% in Cyprus, Germany (both 9%) and Bulgaria (6%). A very high value could also be found in Norway at 98% (see Figure 3).
Source: Eurostat (isoc_eid_ieid)
In 2023, people aged 25-34 years (50%) used their eID most often in the previous 12 months, followed by those aged 35-44 years (49%), and those aged 45-54 years (44%). Unlike other types of internet activities, young people aged 16-24 years were not the strongest user group, with 40% of them stating they used their eID in the preceding 12 months. People aged 55 years and over used their eID the least often, with 36% for those aged 55-64 years, and 25% for those aged 65-74 years (see Figure 4).
Source: Eurostat (isoc_eid_ieid)
Electronic identification can be used to access different kinds of services, provided by the public sector (of the same or of another European country), or by the business sector.
In 2023, the highest percentage of people stating that they had used their eID in the previous 12 months to access services provided by public authorities or public services of their own country was found in the Netherlands (95%), followed by Finland (86%) and Denmark (84%). The EU average was 36%. Norway also recorded a high share at 88%.
The eIDAS Regulation mandates that all EU Member States must recognise eIDs from other EU countries that have been notified to the European Commission. The highest percentage of people stating that they had used their eID in the previous 12 months to access services provided by public authorities or public services of other European countries was found in Ireland (21%), followed by Sweden (20%) and Luxembourg (13%). The EU average was 6%. Norway recorded a share higher than the EU countries at 26%.
Looking at offers from the private sector, the highest percentage of people stating that they had used their eID in the previous 12 months to access services provided by the business sector was found in Finland and Estonia (both 78%), followed by Sweden (74%). The EU average was 16%. Again, Norway recorded a share higher than the EU countries at 82% (see Figure 5).
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Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
The data presented in this article come from Eurostat's survey on the use of ICT in households and by individuals, which is updated on an annual basis to ensure that the data collected remain relevant. While the questions and areas of interest for the surveys change each year to reflect modern ICT use, there is a core section of the survey which aims to provide stable and continued data collection for several key indicators, thereby making analyses over time possible. The module on the use of e-government was revised in 2022 and has since been collected every year. Data on electronic identification were first collected in 2023 and were not collected in 2024 – they are currently planned to be collected every second year.
In most EU Member States the surveys are carried out in Q2 of each year asking about activities in the preceding 12 months (in the case of questions on e-government and eID) or the preceding 3 months/Q1 of the same year.
Within this article statistics that refer to the whole adult population cover those aged 16 to 74 years. The ICT household survey covers households having at least 1 member in the relevant age group 16 to 74 years.
Context
One of the 6 Commission priorities for the period 2019-2024 is A Europe fit for the digital age. The strategy is built on 3 pillars:
- technology that works for the people
- a fair and competitive digital economy
- an open, democratic, and sustainable society
Furthermore, a very concrete vision of the EU's digital transformation and targets for 2030 were set by the Digital Compass for the EU's Digital Decade, evolving around 4 cardinal points:
- skills
- digital transformation of businesses
- secure and sustainable digital infrastructures
- digitalisation of public services
Explore further
Other articles
Database
Thematic section
Selected datasets
- - ICT usage in households and by individuals
- - E-government
Methodology
- ICT usage in households and by individuals (ESMS metadata file — isoc_i)