Citizen experience benchmarks 2026
NPS, cost-to-serve, and friction across 32 government digital services.
- 01 32 government services benchmarked across the GCC, EU, UK, and India.
- 02 Median citizen NPS: 38. Top quartile: 71. Bottom quartile: 9.
- 03 Cost-to-serve varies 7× between top and bottom quartile.
- 04 Mobile-first design correlates more strongly with NPS than any other variable.
The NPS gap is widening
The gap between top and bottom quartile of citizen NPS is widening, not narrowing. The top quartile has invested cumulatively in mobile-first design and journey orchestration; the bottom quartile is still wrestling with portal consolidation.
Cost-to-serve correlation
Cost-to-serve correlates strongly with NPS. The same friction that frustrates citizens also costs money to remedy through assisted channels. The two metrics move together.
Where the gains are
Three patterns explain most of the variance: mobile-first design (34% of variance), journey orchestration across ministries (22%), and AI-assisted triage (18%). The remaining 26% is execution discipline.
Recommendations
Two priorities for 2026: (1) consolidate disparate portals into journey-led service hubs, (2) invest in cost-to-serve dashboards alongside NPS dashboards. Cost-to-serve creates the financial case that funds the NPS work.
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