14.
SERVING CITIZENS
Satisfaction with services
Public services such as health care, education and justice
were greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The
way schools, courts and hospitals operate – the frontline
institutions where people have a direct experience of public
services – changed dramatically in most countries due to
lockdown restrictions. Teachers, physicians and judges
switched to working remotely overnight while health care
systems worldwide were put under stress due to the extent
of the health crisis.
Most OECD countries have surveys to monitor users’
satisfaction with services, although they may cover
different services and questions. The Gallup World Poll
regularly collects data on citizens’ satisfaction with a
range of public services worldwide. Although there are
many contextual and cultural factors that can influence
responses to opinion polls, the dataset allows citizens’
perceptions to be compared over time and across OECD
countries.
Satisfaction with health care averaged 71% across OECD
countries in 2020, similar to 2010 levels. There are wide
variations between countries, with citizens in Norway
(93%), Belgium and the Netherlands (both 92%) being the
most satisfied, while those in Poland (26%), Greece (38%)
and Chile (39%) were the least. Finland had the largest
increase in satisfaction with health care over that period
(19 p.p.) while Estonia (17 p.p.) and Israel (12 p.p.) also had
large increases. In comparison, Poland experienced the
largest decline (22 p.p.) in satisfaction with health care
(Figure 14.1).
On average, 68% of citizens in OECD countries reported
being satisfied with the education system in 2020, a 1 p.p.
increase since 2010. Norway (92%), Finland (87%) and
Slovenia (86%) had the highest satisfaction levels and Turkey
(27%), Greece (36%) and Chile (43%) the lowest. Estonia
(16 p.p.) experienced the largest increase in satisfaction
with education since 2010, due to efforts to increase the
uptake of digital education, which facilitated the transition
to online learning at the beginning of the pandemic (OECD,
2020a). Slovenia (15 p.p.) and Norway (14 p.p.) also had
large increases in satisfaction, while Turkey had the largest
decline, of 35 p.p. from 2010 (Figure 14.2). Not all students
in Turkey had the same opportunities for remote learning
during the pandemic: on average, in normal times, schools
had only one computer for every four students, and a large
proportion of students from disadvantaged socio-economic
backgrounds did not have access to a computer at home
(OECD, 2020b).
Confidence in the judiciary reached 57% on average across
the OECD in 2020, which represents a 6 p.p. increase since
2010. Lithuania (35 p.p.) experienced the largest increases in
224
confidence in the judiciary from 2010. The country has the
shortest disposition times for civil and commercial cases
(see the two-pager “Timeliness of civil justice systems”).
Portugal (23 p.p.) and the Czech Republic (21 p.p.) also had
large increases in confidence in the judiciary. Turkey saw
the largest decrease in confidence in the judiciary (22 p.p.),
followed by Chile (19 p.p.) (Figure 14.3).
Methodology and definitions
Data were collected by Gallup World Poll, generally
based on a representative sample of 1 000 citizens
in each country. For 2020, data were collected from
July onwards. More information about this survey is
available at www.gallup.com/home.aspx.
The level of satisfaction with health care/education is
based on the proportion of respondents who answered
“satisfied” to “In the city or area where you live, are
you satisfied or dissatisfied with the availability of
quality health care/ with the educational system or
the schools?”
The level of confidence in the judicial system is
expressed as the proportion of respondents who
answered “yes” to “In this country, do you have
confidence in each of the following, or not? How about
the judicial system and courts?”
Further reading
OECD/European Union (2020), Health at a Glance: Europe
2020: State of Health in the EU Cycle, OECD Publishing,
Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/82129230-en.
OECD (2020a), “Education Policy Outlook in Estonia”, OECD
Education Policy Perspectives, No. 13, OECD Publishing,
Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9d472195-en.
OECD (2020b), PISA 2018 Results (Volume V): Effective Policies,
Successful Schools, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://
doi.org/10.1787/ca768d40-en.
Figure notes
Data for Estonia are for 2011 instead of 2010. Data for Iceland, Norway and
Switzerland are for 2012 instead of 2010. Data for the Czech Republic
are for 2018 instead of 2020. Data for Costa Rica, Hungary, India,
Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Romania are
for 2019 instead of 2020.
G.40. (Citizen confidence in the police, 2010 and 2020) is available online
in Annex G.
Government at a Glance 2021 © OECD 2021
 14. SERVING CITIZENS
Satisfaction with services

14.1. Citizen satisfaction with the health care system, 2010 and 2020

% 2010 2020
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

L
C
L

N
F
N
D

RO I
U
S
A
N
L
R
E
N
R
OE R

T
L
R
N
T
A
K
U
EX
L
R
L
D
E
K
T
N
X
U
N
A
S
E
L

CD
A
P

CR
ZA
IS

CH

PO
BE

IR

CO
CH

NZ

PR
CZ

ES
AU

SW

IT

GR

RU
ES
AU
DN

LU

US

SV

BR
FR
FI

IS

TU

ID

CH
IN
DE

GB

KO

HU
NO

JP
NL

CA

LT
SV

M
Source: Gallup World Poll 2020 (database).
12 https://doi.org/10.1787/888934259408

14.2. Citizen satisfaction with the education system and schools, 2010 and 2020

% 2010 2020
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
A
X
L
T
N
A
A
E
R
OE R

R
N
K
N
L

U
EX
L
C
R

N
D

CH I
N
F
S
U
A
R
N
N
D
E
K
E
L
L
L
T

CD
T
S
P
U
L

CR

ZA
IS
BE
IR

PO

CH
CH

PR

CO
NZ

CZ
AU

ES

IT
SW

GR
ES

RU
DN

AU
US
LU

SV
FR

BR
IS
FI

GB

TU
DE

KO

HU

ID
IN

RO
NO

JP
NL

LT
CA
SV

Source: Gallup World Poll 2020 (database).

12 https://doi.org/10.1787/888934259427

14.3. Citizen confidence in the judiciary system and the courts, 2010 and 2020

% 2010 2020
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
R
K
E
N
T
D
E
X
U
L
R
L
N
L
N
R
T
S
A
OE L
CD
N
A
E
U
P
T
C
N
R
L
A
EX
L
R
K
L

D
N

RU I
S
U
A
F
CR

ZA
NZ

IS

ES

BE

CZ
CH

AU

IR

PR

PO

CO

CH
SW

US

ES
DN

LU

AU

FR

SV
GR

BR
IT
DE

GB

CA

JP
IS

LT
NO

HU

SV
TU

KO

IN
ID

RO
NL
FI

Source: Gallup World Poll 2020 (database).

12 https://doi.org/10.1787/888934259446

Government at a Glance 2021 © OECD 2021 225

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Government at a Glance 2021

Access the complete publication at:

https://doi.org/10.1787/1c258f55-en

Please cite this chapter as:

OECD (2021), “Satisfaction with services”, in Government at a Glance 2021, OECD Publishing, Paris.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/2a3b6f81-en

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