eGovernment MONITOR 2026: Digital administration in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in comparison

The eGovernment MONITOR 2026 examines the use and evaluation of digital administrative services in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The study, which has been published annually since 2010, by the Initiative D21 and the Technical University of Munich is under the patronage of the Federal Ministry for Digital and State Modernization and was carried out by Kantar. It is based on a representative survey of around 10,100 internet users aged 16 and over.

Austria and Switzerland ahead of digital authorities

The differences can be seen in the handling of administrative matters: In Germany, only 26% have completed their last government request completely digitally. In Austria it was 49%, in Switzerland 53%. Purely analog processes are much more common in Germany (50%) than in Austria (34%) and Switzerland (28%).

Those who use digital administrative services predominantly rate them positively. In Germany, 81% were satisfied with digital processing, 94% would choose this route again.

Expectations for administration and trust in the state

There are also differences in meeting the expectations of a modern digital administration. In Germany, only 15% see their expectations met, in Austria 32% and in Switzerland 45%.

The comparison of trust in the state is similar: It is 32% in Germany, 41% in Austria and 59% in Switzerland. The study shows a link between fulfilled expectations for digital administrative services and higher government trust.

AI and data use: Opportunities and reservations

In all three countries, there is openness to new technologies in administration. AI applications are used slightly more frequently in everyday life in Austria and Switzerland than in Germany. When using AI in public authorities, many respondents expect shorter processing times. At the same time, there are concerns about data protection and the consideration of exceptional cases. The once-only principle, in which data is only provided once and then used across authorities, is also approved. Trust and control over one's own data play an important role.

Findability, digital identity and participation

Another difference concerns access to administrative services. The central Austrian administrative portal oesterreich.gv.at is known by 89% of respondents, while the German federal portal is only 42%.

Austria and Switzerland also perform better in terms of comprehensibility of online forms : There, almost half of the respondents rated the forms as understandable, in Germany it is only 29%. Despite these differences, Germany shows the greatest openness to a digital-only approach at 59%, followed by Switzerland (56%) and Austria (50%).

From the results, the study derives four fields of action:

• Make digital offers easier to find;
• Avoid media breaks, improve mobile use;
• Simplify digital identity solutions;
• Support offers should ensure that people with lower digital skills also have access to administrative services;