South Korea has retained its position as a global leader in digital government, topping the 2025 OECD Digital Government Index (DGI) for the second consecutive year, according to results published today. Australia and Portugal followed closely behind, securing second and third place respectively.
The DGI benchmarks governments’ efforts to establish the foundations for a human-centered digital transformation of the public sector. Korea achieved a composite score of 0.95, the only nation to surpass 0.9, demonstrating “balanced performance” across key metrics including design, data-driven practices, and proactive service delivery. Australia scored 0.88, while Portugal achieved 0.86.
Significant gains were also observed in Chile, Costa Rica, and Japan, which saw the most pronounced score increases. Chile’s Undersecretary of Finance, Heidi Berner, stated that the country’s rise in the rankings “underscores the Chilean State’s commitment to modernization and the provision of efficient digital public services focused on people’s needs.”
The index reveals an overall trend of improvement among OECD countries, with a collective performance rising to 0.70 in 2025, a 14 percent increase from 0.61 in 2023. This progress is particularly evident in the development of digital identity systems and the adoption of cloud technologies, as governments reinforce institutional frameworks for these areas.
However, the report also highlights ongoing challenges. The ability of digital identity systems to function seamlessly across borders remains limited, necessitating continued investment in digital public infrastructure. The assessment indicates “moderate progress towards full digital governments,” suggesting governments still face difficulties keeping pace with evolving public expectations.
France leads the OECD’s Open, Useful and Re-usable Data Index (OURdata), marking the first time the nation has achieved this position. Korea, Poland, Estonia, and Spain also ranked highly in the OURdata Index, reflecting comprehensive open government data policies. Pronounced increases were also noted in Chile, Japan, Czechia, Portugal and Latvia.
Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) CEO, Chris Fechner, stated that the country’s ranking is “a testament to the immense progress we are making across government to strengthen how services are delivered across our community and positions Australia as a global leader in digital government.”
At the lower end of the DGI rankings, Romania and Croatia scored 0.24 and 0.35 respectively. New Zealand ranked near the bottom, prompting an overhaul of its digital government strategy, according to reports.
Data for Germany and the United States was not available for inclusion in the report.
Mexico is currently implementing a biometric CURP system, even as its overall DGI score declined. Italy also saw mixed results, despite the digitization of its civil registration system.
