Consumer AI adoption in Europe - 2025 report

Three weeks ago, we at Cybernews released an AI Adoption Index report examining consumer AI adoption in 64 countries across the world. In this article, we will focus on AI adoption in Europe.

But first, here’s a short look at our methodology: we extracted download data for the 100 most popular AI apps from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store via a third-party provider, and then compared those download volumes to each country's national population sizes to estimate adoption rates.

More information on the methodology and the limitations of the study can be found at the end of the article.

Key insights:

Among the top 10 countries globally for AI adoption, 5 are European: Latvia (#4), Portugal (#5), the United Kingdom (#6), Lithuania (#7), and Estonia (#8).
Europe's largest economy – Germany – ranks only 24th in AI adoption globally.
Among the five largest European Union economies, France (#14) leads, followed by the Netherlands (#15), Spain (#21), Germany (#24), and Italy (#45).
Europe’s country with the lowest AI adoption rate – Poland – has the same adoption rate as Venezuela and Nigeria.
The three European countries with the highest absolute AI app downloads in 2025 are the United Kingdom (37.9 million, global rank #6), Germany (36.6 million, global rank #24), and France (32.1 million, global rank #14).
AI adoption rate is above 30% in 25 out of 28 analysed countries in Europe.

Europe’s AI adoption rankings:

Europe rank	Global rank	Country	2023 Downloads	2024 Downloads	2025 Downloads	2023 Adoption	2024 Adoption	2025 Adoption	YoY Change
#1	#4	Latvia	275.4K	558.5K	1.0M	15%	30%	55%	+83%
#2	#5	Portugal	1.0M	2.9M	5.9M	10%	27%	55%	+104%
#3	#6	United Kingdom	9.4M	19.9M	37.9M	14%	29%	55%	+90%
#4	#7	Lithuania	476.5K	1.0M	1.5M	17%	35%	52%	+49%
#5	#8	Estonia	176.1K	406.4K	691.4K	13%	30%	51%	+70%
#6	#12	Ireland	698.8K	1.7M	2.6M	13%	32%	48%	+50%
#7	#14	France	6.6M	15.4M	32.1M	10%	23%	47%	+104%
#8	#15	Netherlands	2.3M	5.3M	8.5M	13%	29%	47%	+62%
#9	#19	Sweden	1.7M	3.0M	4.9M	16%	29%	46%	+59%
#10	#21	Spain	3.9M	12.2M	22.0M	8%	25%	45%	+80%
#11	#22	Croatia	318.0K	862.1K	1.7M	8%	22%	44%	+100%
#12	#23	Finland	679.8K	1.4M	2.5M	12%	25%	44%	+76%
#13	#24	Germany	9.4M	23.8M	36.6M	11%	28%	44%	+57%
#14	#30	Slovenia	231.7K	451.9K	859.4K	11%	21%	40%	+90%
#15	#31	Austria	904.8K	2.2M	3.6M	10%	24%	39%	+63%
#16	#33	Belgium	1.3M	3.3M	4.5M	11%	28%	38%	+36%
#17	#34	Denmark	838.4K	1.4M	2.3M	14%	23%	38%	+65%
#18	#37	Slovakia	291.9K	972.5K	2.0M	5%	18%	38%	+111%
#19	#39	Romania	1.3M	3.0M	7.1M	7%	16%	37%	+131%
#20	#40	Greece	594.7K	2.0M	3.7M	6%	19%	36%	+89%
#21	#41	Hungary	618.7K	1.7M	3.4M	6%	18%	36%	+100%
#22	#42	Switzerland	1.1M	2.3M	3.3M	12%	25%	36%	+44%
#23	#44	Czechia	811.3K	2.3M	3.8M	7%	21%	35%	+67%
#24	#45	Italy	4.8M	13.2M	20.8M	8%	22%	35%	+59%
#25	#50	Bulgaria	348.8K	969.9K	2.0M	5%	15%	31%	+107%
#26	#52	Ukraine	2.3M	5.4M	10.6M	6%	14%	27%	+93%
#27	#59	Belarus	232.4K	602.9K	1.1M	3%	7%	12%	+71%
#28	#63	Poland	847.7K	1.5M	2.5M	2%	4%	7%	+75%

Top 10 European countries by AI adoption

According to our 2025 data, the following European countries have the highest consumer AI adoption rates:

Latvia (global rank #4) — 55% adoption in 2025 (30% in 2024, 15% in 2023). YoY growth: +83%. Downloads: 1.0M in 2025, 558.5K in 2024, 275.4K in 2023.
Portugal (global rank #5) — 55% adoption in 2025 (27% in 2024, 10% in 2023). YoY growth: +104%. Downloads: 5.9M in 2025, 2.9M in 2024, 1.0M in 2023.
United Kingdom (global rank #6) — 55% adoption in 2025 (29% in 2024, 14% in 2023). YoY growth: +90%. Downloads: 37.9M in 2025, 19.9M in 2024, 9.4M in 2023.
Lithuania (global rank #7) — 52% adoption in 2025 (35% in 2024, 17% in 2023). YoY growth: +49%. Downloads: 1.5M in 2025, 1.0M in 2024, 476.5K in 2023.
Estonia (global rank #8) — 51% adoption in 2025 (30% in 2024, 13% in 2023). YoY growth: +70%. Downloads: 691.4K in 2025, 406.4K in 2024, 176.1K in 2023.
Ireland (global rank #12) — 48% adoption in 2025 (32% in 2024, 13% in 2023). YoY growth: +50%. Downloads: 2.6M in 2025, 1.7M in 2024, 698.8K in 2023.
France (global rank #14) — 47% adoption in 2025 (23% in 2024, 10% in 2023). YoY growth: +104%. Downloads: 32.1M in 2025, 15.4M in 2024, 6.6M in 2023.
Netherlands (global rank #15) — 47% adoption in 2025 (29% in 2024, 13% in 2023). YoY growth: +62%. Downloads: 8.5M in 2025, 5.3M in 2024, 2.3M in 2023.
Sweden (global rank #19) — 46% adoption in 2025 (29% in 2024, 16% in 2023). YoY growth: +59%. Downloads: 4.9M in 2025, 3.0M in 2024, 1.7M in 2023.
Spain (global rank #21) — 45% adoption in 2025 (25% in 2024, 8% in 2023). YoY growth: +80%. Downloads: 22.0M in 2025, 12.2M in 2024, 3.9M in 2023.

When the foundational elements enabling the use of AI tools are met, those like electricity, internet, and smartphones, then a high English proficiency and strong digital skills amongst the population seem to be some of the main factors that determine how quickly a population adopts AI tools.

Bottom 10 European countries by AI adoption

The following European countries record the lowest consumer AI adoption rates in 2025:

Poland (global rank #63) — 7% adoption in 2025 (4% in 2024, 2% in 2023). YoY growth: +75%. Downloads: 2.5M in 2025, 1.5M in 2024, 847.7K in 2023.
Belarus (global rank #59) — 12% adoption in 2025 (7% in 2024, 3% in 2023). YoY growth: +71%. Downloads: 1.1M in 2025, 602.9K in 2024, 232.4K in 2023.
Ukraine (global rank #52) — 27% adoption in 2025 (14% in 2024, 6% in 2023). YoY growth: +93%. Downloads: 10.6M in 2025, 5.4M in 2024, 2.3M in 2023.
Bulgaria (global rank #50) — 31% adoption in 2025 (15% in 2024, 5% in 2023). YoY growth: +107%. Downloads: 2.0M in 2025, 969.9K in 2024, 348.8K in 2023.
Italy (global rank #45) — 35% adoption in 2025 (22% in 2024, 8% in 2023). YoY growth: +59%. Downloads: 20.8M in 2025, 13.2M in 2024, 4.8M in 2023.
Czechia (global rank #44) — 35% adoption in 2025 (21% in 2024, 7% in 2023). YoY growth: +67%. Downloads: 3.8M in 2025, 2.3M in 2024, 811.3K in 2023.
Switzerland (global rank #42) — 36% adoption in 2025 (25% in 2024, 12% in 2023). YoY growth: +44%. Downloads: 3.3M in 2025, 2.3M in 2024, 1.1M in 2023.
Hungary (global rank #41) — 36% adoption in 2025 (18% in 2024, 6% in 2023). YoY growth: +100%. Downloads: 3.4M in 2025, 1.7M in 2024, 618.7K in 2023.
Greece (global rank #40) — 36% adoption in 2025 (19% in 2024, 6% in 2023). YoY growth: +89%. Downloads: 3.7M in 2025, 2.0M in 2024, 594.7K in 2023.
Romania (global rank #39) — 37% adoption in 2025 (16% in 2024, 7% in 2023). YoY growth: +131%. Downloads: 7.1M in 2025, 3.0M in 2024, 1.3M in 2023.

Naturally, countries in the bottom 10 exhibit the opposite elements in their populations – generally lower English proficiency, less developed digital skills, lacking digital infrastructure, and older populations, although there are some outliers, like Switzerland. Ukraine is, of course, constrained by the ongoing war, and Belarus is held back by various geopolitical factors (ChatGPT isn’t available in Belarus).

AI adoption in the 5 largest European Union (EU) economies

Out of the five largest European Union (EU) economies, only France and the Netherlands broke into the global top 15 for AI adoption. Germany, despite being Europe's largest economy, ranks 24th globally. Italy ranks last among the five at 45th position globally.

However, while France and Germany are technically apart by 10 positions, their adoption rate is quite similar, only different by 3%. The only real outlier here is Italy, whose adoption rate is around 10% lower than the other four countries.

Italy’s adoption is likely lagging behind because of lower digital skill proficiency and lower English proficiency compared to its EU peers. Italy also has the oldest population in the EU, which might also create some friction in consumer AI adoption.

Here's a quick overview of the AI application download volumes and adoption rates in these five countries:

France (global rank #14): 47% adoption in 2025 (23% in 2024, 10% in 2023). YoY growth: +104%. Downloads: 32.1M in 2025, 15.4M in 2024, 6.6M in 2023.
Netherlands (global rank #15): 47% adoption in 2025 (29% in 2024, 13% in 2023). YoY growth: +62%. Downloads: 8.5M in 2025, 5.3M in 2024, 2.3M in 2023.
Spain (global rank #21): 45% adoption in 2025 (25% in 2024, 8% in 2023). YoY growth: +80%. Downloads: 22.0M in 2025, 12.2M in 2024, 3.9M in 2023.
Germany (global rank #24): 44% adoption in 2025 (28% in 2024, 11% in 2023). YoY growth: +57% — the weakest growth rate among the five. Downloads: 36.6M in 2025, 23.8M in 2024, 9.4M in 2023.
Italy (global rank #45): 35% adoption in 2025 (22% in 2024, 8% in 2023). YoY growth: +59%. Downloads: 20.8M in 2025, 13.2M in 2024, 4.8M in 2023.

Fastest and slowest growing European AI markets

Fastest growing markets (YoY AI adoption growth 2024–2025):

Romania — +131%
Slovakia — +111%
Bulgaria — +107%
Portugal — +104%
France — +104%
Croatia — +100%
Hungary — +100%
Ukraine — +93%
United Kingdom — +90%
Greece — +89%

Slowest growing markets (YoY AI adoption growth 2024–2025):

Belgium — +36%
Switzerland — +44%
Lithuania — +49%
Ireland — +50%
Germany — +57%
Sweden — +59%
Italy — +59%
Netherlands — +62%
Austria — +63%
Denmark — +65%

The slowest growers are not necessarily struggling markets. Instead, they are largely the countries that entered 2024 with already high adoption rates. Lithuania, Ireland, and the Netherlands were all above 29% adoption in 2024, meaning their further growth is naturally more incremental.

The fastest growers are mostly countries rising from low base points. For example, Romania grew from 16% to 37%, Slovakia from 18% to 38%, and Bulgaria from 15% to 31%.

Conclusion

Excluding a few countries, like Belarus, Poland and Ukraine, the AI adoption rate in most European countries is above 30%. While this report mainly focused on the differences between leading and bottom countries, the reality is that almost all of them are adopting artificial intelligence at an extreme pace.

We will likely see over 50% of the population in most developed countries using AI tools for one or another reason within a few years.

It’s still unclear how this technology will change the trajectory of humanity, but, hopefully, the rapid adoption of AI technologies into our populations ends up as a net benefit to all of us.

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Explore the complete AI Adoption Index dataset.

Methodology

Our research team used Worldometers.info and the United Nations statistics to determine countries' annual population from 2023 to 2025. It was then compared to Google Play Store and Apple App Store download volumes for the 100 most popular AI apps. Population and AI app download metrics were then contrasted to calculate annual AI adoption rates.

Limitations

The dataset is exclusively composed of download statistics from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. This scope inherently excludes other significant distribution channels, such as desktop-based software installations, side-loaded Android application packages (APKs), browser tools, and direct downloads from provider websites.
The primary metric is the number of download events, which may not directly equate to the number of unique users. A single user may contribute multiple downloads through device changes, reinstallations, or updates, potentially inflating adoption estimates. As such, the data reflects the volume of download activity rather than the size of the active user base.
Geographic data is based on the user's app store region setting, which may not correspond to their physical location. This discrepancy is particularly noteworthy in regions with internet restrictions, where users may register their accounts in foreign countries to circumvent censorship.
Adoption rates are derived by normalizing downloads against the total population of each country. This method does not control country-specific variables that influence technology adoption, such as internet penetration rates, smartphone ownership, or demographic distributions. Therefore, direct comparisons of per capita adoption rates between countries with different technological infrastructures should be made with caution.
The study's sample is limited to 100 pre-selected AI apps. This introduces a potential selection bias, as the dataset does not account for downloads from smaller, niche, or region-specific providers that constitute a portion of the overall market.
One major global player missing from the study is China. However, Google Play Store is blocked in China, and Apple's App Store accounts for only around 20% of China's app market. Given these constraints, China was excluded from the study.

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