Eighty-six percent of Norwegians believe that their country is almost the perfect place to live, although public services still seem to show room for improvement.
The Citizen Survey of Norway measured the satisfaction of the country’s citizens with governmental, regional and municipal services. Among the conclusions gleaned were that higher learning institutions, public libraries and Vinmonopolet – the state owned liquor store chain – were all held in high esteem. At the opposite end of the satisfaction survey were the Norwegian Railway, municipal planning and building offices and the Welfare and Labour Administration NAV.
Norway Post reports that overall, 94 percent of those polled said that they were either very satisfied or satisfied with life in Norway. 89 percent of citizens claimed that they were satisfied with living in their municipality while some 70 percent expressed satisfaction with local and government services. Dissatisfaction was claimed by less than 10 percent.
“I am happy to know that our citizens are so satisfied with municipal as well as government services. This shows that public service providers on the whole are doing a good job in securing quality and user orientation in their services. At the same time, the survey makes it clear that several sectors and enterprises have a potential for improvement,” said Rigmor Aasrud, the Minister of Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs.
While most Norwegians feel that on the whole people are treated with respect by legally conscious public services; there remains a significant percentage who still believe that the public sector is mired in bureaucracy and is wasting resources.