Sweden Falls Below EU Average for Digital Citizen Services

Sweden has fallen below the EU average for digital citizen services for the first time in more than 20 years, according to the European Commission’s latest eGovernment Benchmark, prepared by Capgemini.

Sweden scored 84 points, compared with the EU average of 85. In 2023, Sweden scored 93 points and the EU average was 79. For business services, Sweden remains just above the EU average, but the gap has narrowed from 11 points in 2023 to 1 point now.

Caroline Segerstéen Runervik, Capgemini’s Nordic head, told Techtidningen that the decline appears to be a long-term trend rather than a temporary setback. She said the result was “sad” and pointed to weaknesses in governance, data sharing and the ability to scale solutions that work.

She identified limited data sharing between public authorities as one of Sweden’s main weaknesses. The country’s decentralised model means that many digital decisions are made by individual authorities, regions and municipalities, even where coordination and economies of scale could help.

Older systems and a lack of open APIs have also created what Segerstéen Runervik described as architectural debt. The effects become visible when citizens move between public services and their information does not follow them. The report attributes much of Sweden’s decline to the legal and health sectors. Finland is highlighted as a country ahead of Sweden, partly because of more centralised governance.