A study carried out by Eurostat, the European statistical office, shows that 80% of Spanish public services are available on-line, which puts the country at the forefront of the European Union and ahead of the average of 71%.

The Institute for Economic Studies (IEE) compiled data for 2009, which shows that Spain continued to be ahead of the European Union average in terms of internet access to 20 basic public services, with 80% versus 71% for the EU. These services include paying taxes, looking for work, requesting personal documents such as passports or driving licenses, filing police reports, requesting registered documents, enrolling in higher education, etc.

Spain thus surpasses Holland (79%), Germany (74%) and Belgium (70%), and has increased its ratio by 10% in just two years, rising from 70% of online availability in 2007 to 80% in 2009. Already in 2007 Spain easily surpassed the European average, then 59%. About half of the 27 countries in the European Union are below the EU average, including Greece and Romania–both at only 45%–and Bulgaria with just 40%.

An additional indicator in the same study shows the online sophistication of the 20 basic public services, or the level in which they are available compared to the five phases of electronic service classification. Spain’s sophistication rating for 2009 is 89%, again ahead of the EU 27 average of 83%.

Further this year a new indicator has been included called electronic procurement. Here again Spain is well above the EU 27 average with 78% versus 56%, and ranks within the top five countries.