Singapore most satisfied with government services: Survey

3 in 5 are happy but learn what they think the government should focus on.

Accenture surveyed citizens on their satisfaction with public services. The poll of 5,000 people, conducted across the 10 countries - Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States - by Ipsos MORI, showed that 56 percent of Singapore respondents are satisfied with the services they receive, the highest satisfaction rate of the 10 countries surveyed.

In addition, Singaporeans were the most confident (70 percent) of all the survey’s respondents that the government will be able to deliver public services that meet people’s needs and expectations over the next five years.

When asked what they considered most important for government to focus on to improve public services in the future, Singapore respondents ranked most highly “understand better the priorities of citizens and communities” (64 percent), and “make sure services are more tailored to the needs of people using them” (38 percent).

“Our research showed, that of all the countries we surveyed, Singaporeans were the most confident that the government will be able to deliver public services that meet people’s needs,” said Peter Goh, who leads Accenture’s Health & Public Service business in ASEAN. “However, 13 billion dollars in projected additional costs for Singapore public services by 2025 presents government leaders with a difficult new reality. We believe increasing public sector efficiency must be part of the solution; it gives government leaders an option beyond just the traditional choices of cutting services and raising revenue and, our research showed citizens want government to provide services in a more cost-effective way.”