How does AI use at work in Europe compare with the US?
US workers use AI more: in a survey asking the same question in seven countries in early 2026, 43 percent of US workers used generative AI for their job, against 26 to 36 percent in six large European countries, a gap of 7 to 17 points. For companies there is no clean comparison, and US firms that use AI spread it across more of their business.
- Medium confidence
- 5 primary sources
- 2025 to 2026
- Last checked
Every study on one scale
Chart values as text
- Scale: % of workers using generative AI for their job, early 2026. Shaded range: Europe 26–36%.
- United States (2026): US 43.0%
- UK (highest in Europe) (2026): UK 36.3%
- Germany (2026): Germany 31.5%
- Italy (lowest in Europe) (2026): Italy 25.6%
Why medium confidence: The worker gap rests on one study that asked identical questions in all seven countries, in two waves with the same order. A 47-country survey agrees for the big economies but puts Norway and Denmark at or above the US. The company-level evidence conflicts.
Studies without a figure on this scale are listed in the table only.
Sources
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mind the Gap: AI Adoption in Europe and the U.S. (On the Economy) | Alexander Bick, Adam Blandin, David Deming, Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln and Jonas Jessen (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) | 2026 | About 3,000 workers per country, January to February 2026 (20,916 in total) | Online panel weighted to labor force surveys; identical wording in each country | US 43.0%, UK 36.3%, Sweden 35.6%, Netherlands 35.6%, Germany 31.5%, France 28.1%, Italy 25.6%; US workers spent 5.2% of work hours using AI “43.0% of U.S. workers reported using AI for their jobs in January-February 2026” | stlouisfed.org ↗ |
| Mind the Gap: AI Adoption in Europe and the US (St. Louis Fed Working Paper 2026-003) | Alexander Bick, Adam Blandin, David J. Deming, Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln and Jonas Jessen | 2026 | Same survey, two waves (May to June 2025 and January to February 2026) | Same survey; working paper with methods and the company-level comparison | UK 36.3% (34.7% in 2025); share of work hours using AI: US 5.2%, UK 2.8%, Germany 1.7%, France 1.5% “In 2025, 7% of US firms use AI for production versus 4% of EU firms” | doi.org ↗ |
| Mind the Gap: AI Adoption in Europe and the US (St. Louis Fed Working Paper 2026-003) | Alexander Bick, Adam Blandin, David J. Deming, Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln and Jonas Jessen | 2026 | Same survey | Same survey | Germany 31.5% (30.7% in 2025) | doi.org ↗ |
| Mind the Gap: AI Adoption in Europe and the US (St. Louis Fed Working Paper 2026-003) | Alexander Bick, Adam Blandin, David J. Deming, Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln and Jonas Jessen | 2026 | Same survey | Same survey | Italy 25.6% (24.5% in 2025) | doi.org ↗ |
| Trust, attitudes and use of artificial intelligence: A global study 2025 | University of Melbourne and KPMG International | 2025 | About 1,000 people per country in 47 countries, November 2024 to January 2025 | Online survey; any AI use at work at least every few months | US 52%; Norway 67%, Denmark 53%, Spain 50%, UK 48%, France 44%, Sweden 44%, Germany 42%, Netherlands 42% “% Using AI on a semi-regular or regular basis” | mbs.edu ↗ |
Do US companies use AI more than European companies?
There is no clean answer. On the one question both official surveys shared in early 2025, AI used to produce goods or services, 7% of US firms said yes against 4% of EU firms. The EIB, which asks firms on both sides the same questions, finds near parity: 37% of EU and 36% of US firms invest in generative AI (2025, weighted by value added). The clearer difference is breadth: 81% of US firms using AI apply it in two or more business areas, against 55% in the EU.
| Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EIB Investment Survey 2025: European Union overview | European Investment Bank, fieldwork by Ipsos | 2025 | More than 12,000 EU firms and about 800 US firms, April to July 2025 | Telephone survey of senior managers, weighted by value added | Generative AI: EU 37%, US 36%; of AI users, 81% (US) and 55% (EU) use it in two or more business areas “Around 37% of EU firms use generative artificial intelligence, in line with US firms.” | eib.org ↗ |
Do US workers use AI more intensively than Europeans?
Yes. US workers spent 5.2% of their work hours using generative AI in early 2026, about double the share in the UK (2.8%), Sweden (2.5%) and the Netherlands (2.2%), and more than triple Germany (1.7%), Italy (1.6%) and France (1.5%). About half of the average gap comes from differences in jobs, industries, firm size and demographics.
Numbers you may have seen
These figures circulate widely. Here is what the original source says.
- 45% of US workers use generative AI, against 22% in the EU. That mixes two surveys with different questions, ages and dates. With the same question in both places the gap is about 11 points (43% against 32%).
- US workers are 68% more likely to use AI than Europeans. The 68% compares the US with Italy, the lowest of six countries. Against the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands the US lead is 18 to 21%.
- 34% of US firms use AI. A projection by researchers, never measured. The measured US rate was 17% in November 2025 and 23.8% in September 2026.
- European companies have caught up with US companies on AI (EIB). The EIB's 37% against 36% is weighted by value added and rests on about 800 US firms. US firms that use AI spread it much more widely.
More from Europe
- F-345–42%Which EU countries' companies use AI the most and least?
- F-359–37%What share of workers in each EU country use generative AI for work?
- F-3748–86%How do European workers feel about AI at work?
- F-3828%How ready are European companies for the EU AI Act?
- F-3953–66%How much do European firms care where their AI processes data?
- F-4012–14×How does AI investment in Europe compare with the US?
The whole chapter · Chapter poster · All of The AI at Work Fact Book