In 2023, 8% of businesses in the EU used AI. As with cloud computing, its use was more common in large businesses (30%) than in SMEs (7%).
Among the EU countries, the use of AI technologies was highest in Denmark and Finland (both 15%), followed by Luxembourg and Belgium (both 14%). In contrast, it was lowest in Romania (2%), Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Greece (all 4%), according to the latest Eurostat digitalisation report 2024.
Romania scores low also on the basic level of digital intensity across SMEs.The proportion of SMEs with a basic level of digital intensity ranged from 27% in Romania and 28% in Bulgaria to 80% in Sweden and 86% in Finland.
Contrary to the opinion that Romania is a heaven for ICT employees, Eurostat claims that our country has one of the smallest share of employed ICT specialists.
Among the EU countries, the share of employed ICT specialists was highest in Sweden (9%), Luxembourg and Finland (both 8%). The smallest shares were observed in Greece (2%) and Romania (3%).
According to the EU digital targets, at least 20 million ICT specialists should be employed in the EU by 2030 with a balanced participation between men and women.
Looking at the share of women in ICT shows that, despite a slight increase of the share of female ICT specialists over the last decade, male ICT specialists largely outnumber their female counterparts (81% men compared with 19% women in 2023).
The highest shares of women working in ICT were observed in Bulgaria (29%), Estonia (27%), and Romania (26%), while the smallest shares were found in Czechia (12%) and Malta (14%).
The report also says that in 2023, over 90% of people in the EU used the internet at least once a week. However, only 56% had basic or above basic digital skills.
Across the EU countries, the share of people with basic or above basic digital skills in 2023 was highest in the Netherlands (83%) and Finland (82%), ahead of Ireland (73%), Denmark (70%), and Czechia (69%).
The detailed digitalisation report is available here.
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