Digital Health in Europe: Which Countries Lead in Access to Electronic Records and Digital Literacy?

Access to electronic health records and the ability of citizens to use digital health services are at the core of modernizing healthcare systems in Europe. While most countries are making progress, significant disparities remain, and low digital health literacy continues to be a serious challenge.

According to the European Commission report “Digital Decade 2025: eHealth Indicator Study,” access to electronic health records (EHR) in the EU reached 83% in 2024. This is an increase of 4 percentage points compared to 2023 and 11 points higher than in 2022, Euronews reports.

The EU has set an ambitious goal: 100% of citizens to have access to their electronic health data by 2030.

Among 29 European countries (27 EU member states plus Norway and Iceland), results vary significantly—from just 25% in Ireland to 100% in Belgium and Estonia.

Other leading countries include:

• Denmark (98%)
• Lithuania (95%)
• Malta (94%)
• Poland (92%)
• Norway (91%)

All of these exceed 90% access.

Also above the EU average are Portugal (88%), Spain (88%), Austria (87%), Bulgaria (87%), Croatia (87%), Germany (87%), Slovenia (87%), Hungary (86%), Latvia (86%), Finland (85%), France (84%), and Italy (84%).

As of 2024, all EU countries except Ireland provide online access to health data through an electronic portal. This explains the country’s lowest score. In February 2026, the Irish government announced the launch of a procedure to establish a National Electronic Health System—a move aimed at modernizing healthcare.

However, access to technology is not enough. According to the OECD report “Health at a Glance 2025,” digital health literacy levels remain low in many countries, particularly among people over 45 and those with lower education levels.

In 17 OECD countries:

• 18% of people with lower education demonstrate digital health literacy
• 26% among the highly educated

The best results among the highly educated were recorded in:

• Czech Republic (53%)
• Wales (46%)
• France (43%)
• Netherlands (31%)

Among people with lower education:

• Czech Republic (41%)
• Wales (31%)
• France (24%)
• Netherlands (21%)

At the bottom of the ranking are Italy (9% among the highly educated, 5% among those with lower education), Romania (9% for both groups), and Belgium (11% and 10%).

According to experts, building trust is key to the more active use of digital health technologies.

Levels of telemedicine consultations also vary significantly across Europe. Experts emphasize that countries with well-developed electronic health systems can more easily expand telemedicine services.

“Countries with well-established electronic health records and data exchange platforms can develop telemedicine much more easily,” commented David Novillo Ortiz from the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

Europe is making steady progress in the digitalization of healthcare, but differences between countries remain substantial. Reaching full coverage by 2030 will require not only technological investment but also efforts to increase digital health literacy among the population.