Poland scored 0.56 in the OECD’s Digital Government Index, below the 0.70 average, as public services across Europe moved increasingly online. Eurostat reports that 71.9% of EU residents aged 16–74 used online government services in 2025, up 1.9 percentage points in a year. Recent reports highlight wide national differences and limited integration between services.
By CEO editorial team. Polish original, published 8 November 2026.
Online government use rises across Europe
The EU usage rate increased from 67.6% in 2022 to 70% in 2024 and 71.9% in 2025, a gain of 4.3 percentage points over three years. Denmark led at 98%, followed by the Netherlands at 96.2%, Finland at 96.1% and Sweden at 96%. Romania recorded 24.1% and Bulgaria 36%, leaving a gap of almost 74 percentage points between Denmark and Romania.
Eurostat measures actual use, rather than the technical availability of services. Its figures cannot directly establish administrative cost savings, and people who had no reason to contact an authority during the year are not necessarily digitally excluded.
% of residents
| Denmark | 98 |
| Netherlands | 96.2 |
| Finland | 96.1 |
| Sweden | 96 |
| EU | 71.9 |
| Italy | 57.7 |
| Bulgaria | 36 |
| Romania | 24.1 |
Source: Eurostat. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
Information searches remain the most common activity
Looking up information on government websites was the most common activity, reported by 44.2% of EU residents, followed by accessing personal data at 41.3%. Electronic tax returns were submitted by 38.2%, while 38.1% booked appointments or reserved time slots.
Downloadable forms were used by 36.7%, and 36.6% received documents online. Applications for certificates accounted for 20.8% and applications for benefits for 18.1%. These shares do not add up to 100%, because a person could undertake several activities.
Finding information is much more widespread than completing some procedures entirely online. A key measure of administrative efficiency is whether users can finish a transaction without visiting an office or submitting the same information again.
% of people
| Information searches | 44.2 |
| Accessing personal data | 41.3 |
| Tax returns | 38.2 |
| Appointment booking | 38.1 |
| Downloading forms | 36.7 |
| Certificate applications | 20.8 |
| Benefit applications | 18.1 |
Source: Eurostat. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
Digital government remains a policy priority
The OECD’s Digital Economy and Society Outlook 2026, published on 5 November, examines 1,497 digital policy initiatives in 42 countries. Digital government remains among the leading priorities, while cybersecurity moved into second place in 2025.
The share of countries in which a specialised ministry has primary responsibility for the national digital strategy rose from 24% in 2016 to 60% in 2025. Centralising responsibility can help align standards and spending plans, but does not replace cooperation between institutions or evaluation of individual investments.
% of countries
| 2016 | 24 |
| 2025 | 60 |
Source: OECD. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
Strategies are widespread, integrated services less so
According to the OECD’s Serving Citizens 2026, published in September, 87% of surveyed countries have a strategy to improve public services. Some 77% have started organising services around life events such as having a child, moving home or starting a business.
Yet services and data exchange are fully integrated in only 20% of the cases examined. In another 40%, information has been brought together on one website, but institutions do not exchange data. Integration has not begun in the remaining 40%.
A shared portal can make a form easier to find. It does not, by itself, remove the need to contact separate authorities: that requires public administration to operate as a connected system.
% of cases
| Full integration | 20 |
| Shared information only | 40 |
| No integration | 40 |
Source: OECD. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
Governments collect feedback more often than they act on it
User-experience surveys are conducted in 94% of the OECD countries surveyed. Service performance targets and indicators are set in 74%, but only 55% use the collected data to improve services. Just 45% use it to inform public policy.
Public-sector managers therefore need better measures of completion times, errors and service costs. Without them, it is difficult to establish whether a new system has simplified a procedure. The number of electronic forms alone says little about quality; what matters is whether users can complete a transaction and how many steps it takes.
% of countries
| User surveys | 94 |
| Performance targets | 74 |
| Service improvements | 55 |
| Public policymaking | 45 |
Source: OECD. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
Only a quarter systematically evaluate digital projects
The OECD’s Digital Government Outlook 2026 finds that only about a quarter of surveyed countries systematically assess completed digital projects. This leaves a substantial gap in the management of public technology spending.
Assessments need to cover maintenance, integration, training, upgrades and security as well as implementation. A system used for many years can generate costs well beyond the initial contract value. The OECD also highlights shortages of digital skills: only six surveyed countries have a separate strategy to develop these skills among public employees.
Poland trails the OECD average
Poland’s score of 0.56 in the OECD Digital Government Index, based on 2025 data, was 0.14 points below the surveyed-country average of 0.70. The gap indicates less mature arrangements for managing digital government across institutions.
The index covers data governance, shared tools, openness, user orientation and institutions’ capacity to anticipate needs, as well as service availability. Poland is developing electronic documents, tax services and social insurance services. The challenge is to connect those tools to internal administrative processes so that digital interaction with users does not end with staff manually re-entering data.
points, scale of 0–1
| Poland | 0.56 |
| OECD average | 0.7 |
Source: OECD. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
mObywatel reaches 12 million users
Poland’s Ministry of Digital Affairs reported 12 million users of mObywatel, the country’s government app, in May 2026, up from 5.7 million at the end of 2023. That represents an increase of 6.3 million. The ministry also reported about 1.5 million logins a day.
The app’s growth makes smartphones an increasingly important channel for dealing with government. User numbers, however, are not a measure of completed administrative transactions or budget savings. New features need to be accompanied by simpler procedures: moving a form onto a phone can improve convenience without reducing the information users must supply.
million people
| 2023 | 5.7 |
| May 2026 | 12 |
Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
Local authorities have fewer mobile devices
Statistics Poland (GUS) data for 2025 show that 51.8% of central government employees had work-issued portable devices providing internet access, compared with 23.4% of local government employees. The overall public-administration average was 34.4%.
The central–local gap was 28.4 percentage points. It does not automatically imply poorer local services, as some jobs do not require mobile devices. Nevertheless, local authorities handle many matters affecting residents and businesses, and smaller authorities may particularly benefit from shared systems, common standards and access to specialist IT services.
% of employees
| Central government | 51.8 |
| Total | 34.4 |
| Local government | 23.4 |
Source: Statistics Poland. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
Billions of euros allocated to Poland’s digital transition
The European Commission’s Digital Decade 2026 country report says Poland’s roadmap includes 55 measures with a combined budget of €12.4 billion. About 40% are due to finish by the end of 2026; public funding allocated to those measures amounts to €3.69 billion.
The Commission also identifies €7.3 billion for digital transformation under Poland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, known locally as KPO, and €5.8 billion from cohesion funds. These figures cover different parts of the economy and partly overlapping funding categories. They cannot be added together or treated as a single budget for government IT.
Maintaining systems after funding ends will remain a central task. Technology purchases are only the start of spending on upgrades, security and user support.
€ billion; categories partly overlap
| Digital roadmap | 12.4 |
| Recovery and Resilience Plan | 7.3 |
| Cohesion funds | 5.8 |
| Measures ending in 2026 | 3.69 |
Source: European Commission. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
AI deployment outpaces evaluation of its benefits
The OECD finds that almost all surveyed countries use artificial intelligence in at least one area of government. Only 28%, however, systematically assess the results.
Practical uses include document processing, information retrieval, data analysis and support for public employees. Where decisions affect citizens’ rights, checking outputs, providing avenues of appeal and assigning responsibility are particularly important. Savings need to be demonstrated: automation can reduce time spent on repetitive work while adding infrastructure, integration, oversight and cybersecurity costs.
A growing technology market shapes public procurement
In 2025, 20% of surveyed businesses with at least 10 employees used AI, rising to 52% among large companies. According to the OECD, global venture capital investment in AI infrastructure and hosting companies rose from $54.5 billion in 2024 to $123.9 billion in 2025.
These are private-sector figures, not European government spending. They nevertheless indicate the scale of technological development available to suppliers of public systems. Interoperability, data protection, system migration and transparent licensing may become increasingly important for IT companies and integrators; public authorities need to be able to change suppliers while retaining control of their data.
% of businesses
| Businesses with 10+ employees | 20 |
| Large businesses | 52 |
Source: OECD. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
Older users still face a digital skills gap
The OECD reports that internet use among people aged 55–74 rose from 58% in 2015 to 87% in 2025. Older people nevertheless use advanced technologies less often. In 2025, generative AI was used by 68% of people aged 16–24, compared with 14% of older adults—a gap of 54 percentage points.
Internet access does not imply equal skills. Digital public services must accommodate older people and users with disabilities, with simple forms, technical accessibility and access to assistance as well as a wider range of online services.
%
| 2015 | 58 |
| 2025 | 87 |
Source: OECD. Prepared by CEO.com.pl.
The EU aims to put all key public services online by 2030
The European Commission’s goal is for all key public services for citizens and businesses to be available online by 2030. Meeting it requires further integration of national identification, document and data-exchange systems.
The eGovernment Benchmark 2026 assesses 96 services across nine life events. It measures availability and functionality, whereas Eurostat measures use and the OECD assesses organisational maturity. For businesses operating in several EU markets, interoperability could reduce repetitive formalities, provided procedures can actually be completed rather than merely accessed through a website.
Administrative complexity remains a business obstacle
In its October report Government Unstuck, the OECD examines complex regulations and administrative processes. A study cited in the report found that government representatives in 72% of countries regarded regulation and bureaucracy as excessive. Business organisations in 90% of surveyed countries shared that assessment.
Digitalisation does not automatically reduce obligations: businesses may still submit the same data repeatedly through different applications. Simplifying procedures and enabling secure information exchange between institutions could deliver the greatest benefits, with technology supporting organisational reform.
Priorities for 2027–2030
OECD and European Commission reports point to further development of interoperability, automation, AI and cybersecurity. These are directions identified in the documents, rather than confirmed forecasts of spending growth. More services are likely to reuse information already held by government, alongside greater attention to costs, quality and completion times.
For Poland, priorities will include connecting central and local administration, developing skills and funding maintenance after EU programmes end. Achieving the target of 100% of key services online by 2030 will not mark the end of public-sector modernisation.
Sources: OECD, Digital Economy and Society Outlook 2026 (5 November 2026), Government Unstuck (12 October 2026), Serving Citizens 2026 (24 September 2026), and Digital Government Outlook 2026 (15 June 2026); European Commission, eGovernment Benchmark 2026, State of the Digital Decade 2026 and Poland’s 2026 Digital Decade Country Report; Eurostat, Digitalisation in Europe 2026 and 2025 e-government data; Statistics Poland, 2025 ICT use in public administration; Ministry of Digital Affairs, May 2026 mObywatel data.
