Southeast Asian countries have achieved strong economic growth in recent decades, improved livelihoods, and expanded access to essential services. Yet sustaining this progress requires strong public institutions capable of managing the evolving fiscal, social, environmental, and technological challenges of the 21st century, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said in a new report. Government at a Glance: Southeast Asia 2025 provides internationally comparable data on governance practices across the region, offering insights to strengthen institutions, enhance policy effectiveness, and improve overall government performance.
Public debt in SEA countries rose from an average of 44 percent of GDP in 2019 to 58 percent in 2023, following higher deficits during the pandemic. Most SEA countries have adopted budgetary practices that support sound fiscal management: six of seven have fiscal rules and objectives, and seven of eight use expenditure ceilings to guide and control public spending. However, oversight and accountability remain weaker. Only half (4 of 8) have an independent fiscal institution to critically assess fiscal policy, compared to 76 percent of OECD member countries.
Southeast Asia on average lags behind OECD countries on digital government and open data. The region scores 0.37 (vs 0.61 for OECD countries) on the OECD Digital Government Index; anticipating and responding to citizens’ and businesses’ needs is the area with most room for improvement—and where AI could make a difference. On open data, the average score is 0.22 (vs 0.48), and only 23 percent (vs 47 percent) of high-value datasets are easily accessible to the public.
Public satisfaction with services is high, with 87 percent satisfied with healthcare services and 89 percent with education. Service delivery has improved over the past 10-15 years, and seven out of eight countries now have strategies to enhance public administrative services. However, performance monitoring and user feedback remain limited: only four of eight countries regularly publish data on performance against standards or targets. Digital services are still underdeveloped: in seven of eight countries, most online public services cannot be accessed through a secure and user-friendly digital identity.
