Digital in numbers
Here you will find important key figures and statistical information.
table of contents
Digital Economy and Society Index
The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) is an index composed of various indicators. It was developed by the European Commission (GD CNECT) to assess the development of the digital economy and society in the EU countries.
DESI indicators are now structured around the four cardinal points of the Digital Compass, replacing the previous five dimension structure.
| Structure of DESI | |
| 1 Human capital | Internet user skills and advanced digital skills |
| 2 Connectivity | Fixed broadband take-up, fixed broadband coverage, mobile broadband and broadband prices |
| 3 Integration of digital technology | Business digitalisation and e-commerce |
| 4 Digital public services | e-Government |
The DESI scores and rankings of previous years were re-calculated for all countries to reflect the changes in the choice of indicators and corrections made to the underlying data
Austria's country profile 2022
Austria ranks 10th among 27 EU Member States in the 2022 edition of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). Please read more under DESI Report Austria 2022.
eGovernment Benchmark
The "eGovernment Benchmark" of the European Commission has been examining digital administrative services in the 27 EU countries as well as in Iceland, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey since 2001.
As a basis for comparison the indicators of the Digital Agenda for Europe are used. These are User centricity, Transparency, Cross-border mobility and technological key elements for online-services. These four key indicators are examined annually on a rolling basis based on individual circumstances for citizens and companies that make interaction with public authorities necessary.
eGovernment Benchmark 2022
Austria ranked 13th in this year's eGovernment Benchmark (previous year: 6th place; in 2020: 3rd place). Since the last survey in the previous year, there have been extensive changes in the survey modalities, which means that there is no overall comparability with previous years, as is also stated at key points in the eGovernment Benchmark Report. Since the number of services surveyed has changed considerably, new indicators (transparency of service design) have been included, a new life situation (health) has been added, and adaptations have been made to the answer options of the mystery shoppers, Austria's result should not be seen as a deterioration.
This year's ranking is nevertheless understood as a mandate to continue working intensively on the Republic's e-government offerings in order to once again assume a pioneering role in Europe.
Please find more information on our German site about the eGovernment Benchmark
Previous eGovernment-Benchmark results
Austria ranked 6th among 36 countries in the eGovernment Benchmark 2021. This year's study showed significant improvements for Austria in the indicators mobile friendliness, cross-border eDocuments and cross-border eID. Here, the administration seems to be on the right direction, especially by concentrating on mobile government. The further expansion of Once Only - pre-filled forms or those without the need for proof of information on the part of the user - as well as proactive and more user-friendly services is necessary and already being implemented. Overall, the country has already taken significant steps towards the digitalisation of the administration with the Digital Office app, oesterreich.gv.at and the business service portal usp.gv.at.
In the "eGovernment Benchmark 2020" published by the European Commission, Austria ranks third out of 36 countries, on par with Latvia, and is one of the top 3 nations in Europe with Malta (1st place) and Estonia. Federal Computing Centre (BRZ), owned by the Republic of Austria, as a competence centre significantly involved in success. Several services, which are named as internationally important good practices in the Commission's report, were implemented in cooperation with the Federal Computing Centre (BRZ).
In the European Commission's "eGovernment Benchmark 2019" published on 18.10.2019, Austria ranks third out of 36 countries surveyed, improving by three places and it is one of the top 3 nations in Europe, with Malta (ranked 1st) and Estonia. Austria scored particularly well in the areas of availability and user-friendliness (e.g. through mobile use). Also worth mentioning is Austria's pioneering position in the field of so-called "key enabler" (key technologies) in the categories of electronic identification (eID), electronic documents (i.e. electronic transmission of documents from country A to country B) and the use of registers. In the electronic delivery subcategory, Austria scores the maximum score with the right to e-mail with authorities and, together with Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania, ranks first in Europe-wide comparison.
In 2018 Austria achieved the sixth rank in the overall ranking of 34 countries examined. E-Government Services as FinanzOnline or Justiz 3.0 are Best Practices within Europe. The first five ranks are occupied by Malta, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia and Norway.
eGovernment MONITOR
Since 2010, the "eGovernment MONITOR", a study by Initiative D21 and ipima, has been investigating annually the current eGovernment situation in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other similar countries. The focus is on usage, satisfaction, drivers and barriers. The study also evaluates various eGovernment options and the attitudes of citizens.
eGovernment MONITOR 2022 (German): Austria has the best eGovernment in the DACH region
Half of all Austrian e-government users are mobile. High use of domestic e-government services bring Austria first place again - strong growth in digital identification and the "Digitales Amt" app.
This year's study again proves that Austria has a clear lead in the use of e-government offers compared to our neighbors. When it comes to electronic identification and the use of the "Digitales Amt" app, the number of users is growing steadily. The expansion of citizen-friendly e-government or m-government solutions has been well received by citizens in Austria: 72 percent currently use electronic administrative services, followed by Switzerland with 61 percent and Germany with 54 percent. In Austria it is noticeable that the use of offers in the group of 16-34 year olds is 68 percent lower than in the other age groups (35-54 year olds: 76 percent, 55+: 71 percent).
ICT in households
According to Statistics Austria, 95 percent of Austrian households had Internet access in 2021. 92.5 percent of Austrian citizens used Internet in the last three months. 54.2 percent have done online-shopping in the last three months in 2021.
Please read more under Statistik Austria: ICT in Households
ICT in companies
The use of information and communication technology (ICT) in business processes has become indispensable for companies.
According to Statistik Austria, 98.9 percent of Austrian companies had access to the Internet in 2021, 89.7 percent used broadband and 85.2 percent had mobile broadband connections. Broadband Internet for high-performance and fast data transfers has become established in companies. 91 percent of all companies had a website on the Internet, which still depends on the size of the company. More than every second company in Austria with more than ten employees has a presence and is active on social networks with their own user profile (65.2 percent). 40.4 percent of the companies are already using cloud-based services.
Around 30 percent of the companies sell already via e-Commerce. Nine percent are using Artificial Intelligence in the company. Please read more under Statistik Austria: ICT in companies
Network Readiness Index (NRI)
Initially launched in 2002 with the World Economic Forum, the NRI has been redesigned in 2019 to reflect how technology and people need to be integrated within an effective governance structure in order to have the right impact on our economy, society and the environment.
In 2021 Austria had a top performance in network readiness, achieving a 15th overall ranking.
The NRI is structured hierarchically and consists of the sub-indices Environment, Readiness, Use and Impact. Each of these sub-indices consists of ten columns (pillars), behind each column there are several parameters. Each parameter is included in the calculation with the same weighting.
The 2021 NRI is the third edition of this renewed methodological model and it is focused on the impact of digital technologies on making the post-COVID world more equal. It ranks a total of 130 economies based on their performance across 60 variables.
Additional Information