Digital Government Outlook 2026: Estonia
Table of contents
This country note presents an overview of the digital government landscape in Estonia drawing on the results of the 2025 OECD Digital Government Index (DGI) and the 2025 OECD OURdata Index. The note outlines key policy developments in the country observed during the assessment period. It aims to inform policy dialogue and support Estonia in advancing a whole-of-government approach to digital transformation in the public sector.
In the 2025 edition of the OECD Digital Government Index, Estonia attained a score of 0.83, above the OECD average of 0.70. This represents a 0.09 increase since 2023 (Figure 1).
Estonia recorded higher scores in Data-driven Public Sector (0.93), Proactiveness (0.92), Open by Default (0.87), Government as a Platform (0.81) and User-Driven (0.72), compared with OECD averages of 0.74, 0.67, 0.59, 0.71 and 0.71, respectively. These results show that Estonia has advanced in leveraging data as a strategic asset, anticipating user needs through proactive service delivery, and promoting openness and transparency across government.
Estonia scored below the OECD average in Digital by Design (0.71 vs 0.75). This means that Estonia still has room for improvement in further integrating digital technologies and standards into the design and modernisation of public sector processes.
In the 2025 edition of the OECD OURdata Index, Estonia attained a score of 0.76, above the OECD average of 0.53 (Figure 2). This score remained stable since 2023.
Estonia recorded higher scores across all three pillars: 0.74 in Data availability, 0.87 in Data accessibility and 0.67 in Government support for data re-use, compared with OECD averages of 0.53, 0.67 and 0.40, respectively. These results reflect Estonia's consistently strong performance in open government data provision, accessibility, and support for re-use.
Estonia scored above the OECD average across all three pillars, though Government support for data re-use (0.67) remains its comparatively lowest-scoring pillar. This suggests that Estonia could further strengthen mechanisms to actively promote the re-use of government data and measure its public value.
Estonia has established a comprehensive digital government governance structure. The Department of Digital Government and Digital Infrastructure leads digital policy under Estonia’s Digital Agenda 2030. Co-ordination is ensured through the Steering Group of the Digital Agenda and advisory committees, with external actors participating alongside government representatives. More recently, the Digital Society Development Plan, approved in May 2026, provides the updated strategic framework for digital government.
Transparency and oversight of AI in Estonia are supported by a robust governance framework. The Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs leads national AI coordination, including developing classification and risk evaluation mechanisms aligned with the EU AI Act. This is complemented by the AI Ethics Advisory Council, which guides ethical use of AI across the public sector and evaluates societal and rights-based implications.
A comprehensive strategy guides data and AI development in Estonia. The Data and Artificial Intelligence White Paper 2024–2030, endorsed by multiple ministries, covers data management, real-time economy, language technology, and trustworthy AI development. The strategy addresses three pillars: putting data to work for state and economy, embedding AI across public and private sectors, and ensuring human-centredness and trustworthiness.
Estonia addresses digital talent and skills through its sectoral development plans, including the Digital Society Development Plan and broader education and research frameworks, rather than through a standalone strategy. While this integrated approach reflects Estonia's strategic planning system, certain operational components, including workforce development actions by the lead institution, could be further strengthened to support more structured capability development.
Strong performance across several dimensions of human-centred services in Estonia is not yet matched across all areas. Gaps remain in omni-channel delivery, user involvement and the measurement of user needs. Strengthening these could support more consistent and inclusive services.
The OECD Digital Government Outlook (DGO) provides a comprehensive assessment of digital government policies across OECD Members and accession candidate countries. It draws on the results of the 2025 OECD Digital Government Index (DGI) and the 2025 OECD Open, Useful and Re-usable Data (OURdata) Index to evaluate progress and identify persistent gaps in digital transformation across the public sector.
The DGI assesses the enabling foundations for digital transformation across six dimensions: Digital by Design, Data-driven Public Sector, Government as a Platform, Open by Default, User-Driven and Proactiveness. Rather than measuring the digitalisation of specific services, the DGI focuses on the strategies, policy levers, implementation practices and monitoring mechanisms that enable coherent, whole-of-government digital transformation.
The OURdata Index benchmarks the robustness of open government data policies across three pillars: data availability, data accessibility and government support for data re-use. It supports policymakers in monitoring the design and implementation of national open government data policies.
Both indices were developed with OECD Member countries through the OECD Working Party of Senior Digital Government Officials (E-Leaders) and approved by the OECD Public Governance Committee.
Figure 1: The 2025 DGI OECD average does not include Germany and the United States. 2025 data cover the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024. The 2023 OECD average does not include Germany, Greece, Slovakia, Switzerland and the United States. 2023 data cover the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 October 2022. The composite score is the unweighted average of the six-dimension scores.
Figure 2: The 2025 and 2023 OURdata Index OECD average does not include Denmark, Hungary and the United States. 2025 data cover the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024. 2023 data cover the period from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021. The composite score is the unweighted average of the three-pillar scores.
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The full book is available in English: OECD (2026), Digital Government Outlook 2026: From Foundations to Transformational Impact, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/0496b2bc-en.
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