New data released by Eurostat reveals a significant generational gap in the adoption of artificial intelligence across the European Union. As of 2025, 63.8% of young people aged 16–24 have used generative AI tools—nearly double the adoption rate of the general population (32.7%).
Education and Personal Use Driving Growth
While AI is becoming a staple in daily life, the motivations for using it vary significantly by age:
Education: Unsurprisingly, students are the primary drivers of this trend. Nearly 40% of young people use AI for formal education, compared to less than 10% of the wider population.
Private Life: Young people are also more likely to experiment with AI for personal projects or entertainment, with 44.2% reporting private use.
Workplace: Interestingly, professional use of AI remains steady across age groups, hovering around 15%. This parity is largely because many in the 16–24 demographic are students who have not yet entered the full-time labor market.
Regional Highlights: Where AI is Most Popular
The adoption of generative AI is not uniform across the EU. The tech is most prevalent in Northern and Southern Europe:
Top Adopters: Greece leads the EU with 83.5% of its youth using AI, followed closely by Estonia (82.8%) and Czechia (78.5%).
Lowest Adoption: On the other end of the spectrum, youth in Romania (44.1%), Italy (47.2%), and Poland (49.3%) reported the lowest usage rates, though even these figures show significant engagement.
About the Data
Generative AI refers to tools that can create new text, images, or code based on user prompts. These findings are part of the 2025 EU survey on ICT usage in households, reflecting digital experiences over a three-month period. The release of this data highlights the evolving digital landscape as the EU marks Safer Internet Day 2026, emphasizing the importance of digital literacy for the next generation.
