The use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the European Union: Key results, 2026 edition
A · Strong evidence Eurostat statistical report (KS-01-26-009) on official, harmonised EU surveys of enterprises and individuals, with methods and definitions documented; the reference figure for AI uptake in Europe.
Summary based on the full text·Original: about 50 minutes to read
In short
Eurostat's 2026 key results on AI use in the EU, from the annual ICT surveys of enterprises and of households and individuals. One in five EU enterprises used AI in 2025, up sharply since 2023 but still a minority. Large firms use it far more than small ones. The first measurement of generative AI use by individuals found 32.7% had used it in the previous three months, mostly for private purposes.
Key numbers
- 20.0%EU enterprises (10 or more persons employed) using at least one AI technology in 2025
- 55.0%large enterprises using AI in 2025, against 30.4% of medium and 17.0% of small enterprises
- 32.7%EU individuals who used generative AI tools in the three months before the 2025 survey
- 63.8%generative AI use among people aged 16 to 24, against 6.5% among those aged 65 to 74
- 42.0%enterprises using AI in Denmark, the highest rate in the EU, followed by Finland at 37.8%
As reported by the source.
English·Web page·opens ec.europa.eu
What it reports
- 20.0% of EU enterprises used at least one AI technology in 2025: text mining, speech recognition, language or code generation, image, video or audio generation, and others. Large enterprises rose 24.6 points since 2023.
- Use by size: 55.0% large, 30.4% medium, 17.0% small.
- Leading countries: Denmark 42.0%, Finland 37.8%, Sweden 35.0%, Belgium 34.5%. Information and communication and professional, scientific and technical services lead by sector; manufacturing is at 17.3%.
- Among enterprises not using AI, 14.2% had considered it, up 2 points. Lack of expertise, along with data protection and privacy concerns (over 50% in every size class), are top reasons for not using it.
- 32.7% of individuals used generative AI tools, from 63.8% at ages 16-24 down to 6.5% at 65-74. Higher education raises use. Private use dominates, though professional use is over 50% among working-age users.
- The report covers measurement challenges and plans to measure AI's productivity, monetary value and wider effects.
How they got it
Harmonised annual surveys run by national statistical institutes under EU law with a common model questionnaire and methodological manual. Enterprise survey covers firms with at least 10 persons employed across 1.5 million EU enterprises. The individual generative AI questions were first asked in the second quarter of 2025.
Limits
- Enterprise use counts any of a list of AI technologies, so it shows breadth of uptake, not depth or value.
- Firms with fewer than 10 persons employed are excluded.
- The individual survey started when generative AI had been public for over two years, so there is no early baseline.
Why it matters for companies
This is the official benchmark for comparing a company's AI uptake with European peers by country, sector and size. The size gap says small suppliers and partners lag well behind large firms, which matters for AI-enabled supply chains and shared processes. The age gradient in individual use is a reminder that internal rollouts need different support for older staff, and that many people bring private AI habits to work before any company policy exists.
Summary based on the full text. Read the original for the full argument and data.Read the original on ec.europa.eu
- Tags
- AI adoption