Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse and compare how austerity has influenced online sustainability information in Italy and Spain.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors relate austerity policies to online information in order to ascertain whether austerity plays a role in the financial, organizational, social and environmental information disclosed on local government (LG) websites. The research has been conducted by analysing the websites of all Italian and Spanish LGs with more than 100,000 inhabitants.

Findings – The results show that institutional and legislative pressures, as well as austerity measures, have played a relevant role in the increased production of information by LGs, although not all information is fully provided.

Originality/value – The results may be of interest to managers and politicians as a stimulus to increase the flow of information. They may also be useful to policy makers, regulators and other stakeholders in order to foment environmental information.