Citizens’ satisfaction with public services and institutions can be considered a direct outcome of a government’s policy and actions, and the results from satisfaction surveys can reveal a lot about how well governments are functioning, both in terms of citizens’ actual experiences but also their expectations.
The Gallup World Poll surveys on a regular basis the satisfaction of citizens with public services (e.g. health, education and justice). The collected data allows policymakers to evaluate how satisfaction has changed over time and compare the level of satisfaction across jurisdictions.
Over the past decade, citizens in the Western Balkan region have grown more satisfied with health services but less satisfied with education services. For both types of services they are less satisfied than citizens living in OECD and OECD-EU countries. Confidence in the judiciary system and courts has remained stable in the past decade, remaining at a very low level compared to the OECD and the OECD-EU levels.
In 2019, 52% of the citizens in the Western Balkans, on average, reported that they were satisfied with the quality of healthcare systems. This is higher than in 2009 (44%), but significantly lower than the average satisfaction level in OECD countries (69%) in 2019. Kosovo reported the highest rate of satisfaction (57%) with the healthcare system while North Macedonia reported the lowest rate (46%). Over the past decade, the satisfaction with healthcare systems has improved significantly in Albania and Kosovo (by 21 and 27 p.p. respectively). On the contrary, satisfaction rates declined in North Macedonia (7 p.p.) and Montenegro (5 p.p.).
More than half of the citizens in the region, on average, were satisfied with their education systems and schools (57%). Nevertheless, this is lower than the satisfaction rate in OECD and OECD-EU countries on average (67% and 68%). Over the past decade, overall satisfaction with education systems and schools has decreased in most Western Balkans (on average 7 p.p.). Albania has the highest rate of satisfaction in the region (59%). Citizens of North Macedonia recorded the lowest satisfaction rate with the education system and schools (54%). Kosovo had the largest decline in satisfaction rates, from 73% in 2009 to 56% in 2019. This mirrors the relatively low performance on PISA exams for students in Kosovo, which compare the outcomes of education systems across the world, as shown in the section on student performance and equity in education. Montenegro has also experienced a large decline (14 p.p.) in satisfaction with the education system. Albania is the only country in the Western Balkan region where satisfaction improved in the past decade (10 p.p.).
Confidence in the judiciary system and the courts is remarkably low in the Western Balkan region, compared with OECD and OECD-EU countries. In 2019, on average, the level of confidence stood at 33%, compared to 56% for OECD-EU countries. Only 22% of citizens in North Macedonia have confidence in the judiciary system. This is the lowest rate registered in the region. In the past decade, confidence levels have slightly decreased in the Western Balkans. This trend differs from the OECD-EU countries where generally the level of confidence has increased (7 p.p.). While Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia reported a decrease in the confidence level (7 p.p., 2 p.p. and 1 p.p., respectively), Albania and Serbia recorded an increase of 3 and 6 p.p. The interpretation of cross-country comparisons of citizen satisfaction and confidence with services should be made with caution as perceptions can be influenced by many other reasons beyond the access, responsiveness and quality of services, such as differing expectations, cultural factors, communications, current events or other factors.
