Last year, Romania was again last in the EU in terms of online interaction between citizens and authorities, according to the latest Eurostat data.
Paradoxically, however, we rank better than the Czechs, Poles and Germans when it comes to using electronic identity (eID) to access services provided by the private sector. Which means that, as in many other sectors, Romanians are far ahead of the state in terms of adapting to the future.
Below, Romania’s digital paradox, considering two aspects:
1. We rank poorly with respect to online interactions between citizens and the administration
In Romania, less than a quarter of citizens aged 16 to 74 (23%) used a public authority’s website or app in the 12 months preceding data collection, compared to the EU average of almost 70%:
Bulgaria (30%) and Germany (58%) also recorded very low percentages for this indicator, compared to the EU average, but especially with shares in the Nordic states: Denmark (98%) and Finland, along with the Netherlands and Sweden (each with 95%).
As for electronic identification, even if it is little used, being a relatively new process, a tendency to rapidly expand its use for the purchase of services provided by the business environment is noted.
Of the total number of people aged 16-74 who used the Internet in the 12 months preceding data collection, the share of people who used electronic identification to access some online services for personal purposes was only 12.0%, compared to the Union average of 41.11%.
The element leading to such a low share is that of using eID to access services offered by the administration and public services, used by only 1.58% of the population aged 16-74, compared to 36.14% of citizens in the EU 27. We are the only country, along with Cyprus (where 0.72% of people used eID for services provided by the state), that do not exceed the average threshold of 5%.
In Bulgaria, the share of this user category is 5.36%
2. The private sector holds up: we are ahead of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic in using digital identity
In terms of private sector offerings, Finland and Estonia (both with 78%), followed by Sweden (74%), recorded the highest percentage of people who said they used their eID in the past 12 months to access services provided by the business sector.
The EU average stood at 16.44%. Again, Norway recorded a higher percentage than EU countries, of 82%.
The most interesting part is that Romania is doing much better than other stronger countries where digital services are accessed to a greater extent.
The situation broken down above shows that the share of Romanians using eID for private services is much closer to the EU average, compared to the one recorded in the case of public services, although the rule is that the ratio is reversed.
Subsequently, more than 37% of Austrians used eID for public services, but only 4% used electronic identification for services provided by the private sector.
In Germany – almost 7% for public services, 3% for private services.
Poland – 36.5% used eID for public services, only 6.34 in the business sector.
The Czech Republic – 25.2% vs. 6.47%.
However, the situation in Romania is reversed: 1.58% of people used the eID to access services offered by the authorities and public services, and almost 10%, for services offered by the business sector.
Which proves the poor digitization of the Romanian administration.
What the NIS says about the use of electronic identification in 2023
- Among people aged 16-74 who used electronic identification in the last 12 months for various online services, an overwhelming 90.0% used services provided by the business sector, such as accessing banking services, authentication to transport services, eID validation of an account.
- This was followed at a great distance by people who used electronic identification for services provided by public authorities or public services in Romania (14.4% of the total of those using eID), the main reasons being filling in tax forms, social benefits requests, certificates requests, health files verifications, etc.
- 10.2% of people aged 16-74 used electronic identification for services provided by public authorities in other European countries, in order to request some documents or certificates, to pay taxes, etc.
It must be mentioned that Eurostat data differ insignificantly from those of the NIS.
Minister of Research, latest data on digitization situation: We will be rid of paper files after we implement the entire government cloud and all databases migrate
Minister of Digitization Bogdan Ivan stated on Tuesday that Romanians will be rid of paper files after the full implementation of the governmental cloud and the migration of all databases.
By 2026, we will have at least 60 public services in digital format, he added, quoted by News.ro:
„We will be rid of paper files after we implement the entire government cloud and after the migration of all databases. I estimate that by 2026 we will have at least 60 public services in digital format, precisely in order to provide these services directly, on laptop or phone, to any Romanian, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But without cloud we could not have reached this state, it has been talked about for 10 years, well we did it”. Since April this year, work has also been underway on the state’s single app: „This winter we will have a beta version of the Single Application, to test it, to see how the first five services are received by people, to make an application to be used simply and intuitively. By September 2025, the state’s single app will be fully implemented, which will have at least 30 services, and by the end of 2026, at least 60 services, all mobile. You will receive messages on the application when your license expires. You will be able to see how much you have until you retire, to see how much you have contributed”.
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