Social Monitor: Romania ranks last in EU for artificial intelligence use

Romania Insider · 05.11.2026, 12:13:48

Romania ranks last in the European Union for the use of artificial intelligence by both individuals and companies, according to an analysis by the Social Monitor (Monitorul Social), a project of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Romania. The report linked the low adoption rate to a wider deficit in basic digital skills. Only 17.8% of Romanians aged 16 to 74 used generative AI tools in 2025, compared with an EU average of 32.7%. Denmark led the bloc with a rate of 48.4%, according to Eurostat data cited in the report. The difference was greater in the workplace. Just 5.2% of Romanians used generative AI for professional purposes, compared with 15.4% across the EU. A similar share of Romanian companies with at least ten employees - 5.2% - used some form of AI technology. The EU average was 20%, meaning Romanian businesses currently use AI less than European companies did in 2021, when the bloc-wide rate stood at 7.7%, the same source revealed. The Social Monitor linked this performance to Romania’s low level of digital literacy. Only 31.8% of the population had basic or above-basic digital skills in 2025, the lowest share in the EU and well below the European average of 60.4%. The report argued that Romania’s economic development alone could not explain the gap. Bulgaria, Greece, Latvia, Slovakia, and Hungary have lower GDP per capita in purchasing-power terms but perform better in both digital skills and AI adoption. Greece, for example, has a GDP per capita equivalent to 68% of the EU average, compared with Romania’s 78%, yet 44.1% of Greeks used generative AI. Plus, Internet access does not fully account for the difference either. Among people who had used the internet during the previous three months, only 19.1% in Romania had used generative AI, compared with 34.8% across the EU. “More concerning is the fact that Romania is not catching up. Between 2021 and 2025, the share of Romanians with basic digital skills increased from 27.8% to 31.8%, more slowly than the EU27 aver