Malta has been ranked first out of 36 European countries for online government services, according to the European Commission’s eGovernment Benchmark Reports 2021.

The country scored 96%, followed by Estonia, which obtained a score of 92%.

“Their digital government is the most user-centric, transparent, technologically enabled and open to users from other European countries,” the report says. 

Malta’s public service placed first in all the criteria of the exercise.

User centricity indicates the quality of the service design and the ease with which it is used by customers, even on mobile.

In this respect, Malta obtained a 99% score, 11 percentage points higher than the European average.

Malta obtained 98% in transparency in the services provided, while the European average is 64%.

In key enablers, which incorporate technical elements considered essential for the delivery of online government services, Malta achieved a 98% score with the European average being 61%.

When it came to cross-border services, which indicates the accessibility of services from other countries, Malta obtained a score of 90%, 35 percentage points higher than the European average.

In a statement, the government said Malta had also achieved first place in 2020 as well as previous years. 

Public service chief Mario Cutajar said this result is a testament to the work carried out in recent years with an investment of €200 million in technology to make public services accessible to anyone and everywhere.