EU enterprise AI adoption reaches 19.95%

AI use among EU enterprises reached 19.95% in 2025, with adoption increasing across most member countries compared with 2024. Eurostat’s survey covered enterprises with 10 or more employees and self-employed persons. Uptake remained uneven by business size: 55.03% of large enterprises used AI, compared with 30.36% of medium enterprises and 17% of small enterprises.

Denmark recorded the highest adoption rate at 42.03%, followed by Finland at 37.82% and Sweden at 35.04%. Romania had the lowest share at 5.21%. The information and communication sector led adoption at 62.52%, followed by professional, scientific and technical services at 40.43%. All other economic activities remained below 25%.

Text mining was the most widely used technology, deployed by 11.75% of enterprises. Tools generating pictures, videos or audio followed at 9.55%, while those generating written or spoken language or programming code reached 8.76%. Among enterprises already using AI, 34.70% applied it to marketing or sales, and 31.05% used it for business administration or management.

Among enterprises not using AI, 14.21% had considered adopting it. For businesses that had considered AI but had not implemented it, lack of relevant expertise was the most common obstacle at 70.89%. Uncertainty about legal consequences followed at 52.52%, while concerns about data protection and privacy affected 48.83%.