By Aijaz Alam
What percentage of companies use AI?
20.2% of firms in OECD countries used AI in 2025, according to the OECD's ICT usage data, up from 14.2% in 2024 and 8.7% in 2023. Executive surveys give much higher figures: 88% of McKinsey respondents (mid-2025) said their organization regularly uses AI in at least one business function, and an NBER survey of senior executives (summer 2026) found 78%.
- 20.2%Firms in OECD countries using AIOECD, 2025 data
- 52.0%Large firms in OECD countries using AI, against 17.4% of small firmsOECD, 2025 data
- 88%McKinsey respondents whose organization regularly uses AI in at least one functionMcKinsey State of AI, Jun-Jul 2025
- 78%Firms using AI, per nearly 9,000 senior executives in seven countriesNBER w34836, summer 2026
- 24.6%US employer firms that used AI in the last two weeksCensus BTOS, 5-18 Oct 2026
The numbers
The full breakdown
Share of companies using AI, by survey
| Survey | Who is counted | Period | Using AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| OECD ICT usage data | Firms in OECD countries with data, mostly 10 or more staff | 2025 | 20.2% |
| Eurostat community survey | EU enterprises with 10 or more staff | 2025 | 19.95% |
| US Census Bureau, BTOS | US employer firms; AI in any business function in the last two weeks | 5-18 Oct 2026 | 24.6% |
| Federal Reserve Banks, Small Business Credit Survey | US employer firms with 1 to 499 staff; use by the business or any employee | Sep-Nov 2025 | 46% |
| NBER working paper w34836 | Firms of nearly 9,000 senior executives in the US and six other countries | Summer 2026 | 78% |
| McKinsey State of AI | 1,993 respondents in 105 nations; regular use in at least one function | Jun-Jul 2025 | 88% |
Each row is the publisher's own headline figure. The surveys ask different questions of different groups, so the rows are not a ranking. The US Census figure has its own page, with every firm size, sector and wave.
Firms using AI, by firm size (2025)
| Firm size | OECD countries | EU (Eurostat) |
|---|---|---|
| Small (EU: 10 to 49 staff) | 17.4% | 17% |
| Medium (EU: 50 to 249 staff) | not given in the OECD release | 30.36% |
| Large (EU: 250 or more staff) | 52.0% | 55.03% |
| All firms covered | 20.2% | 19.95% |
OECD announcement of 28 Jan 2026 and Eurostat 2025 data. Firms with fewer than 10 staff are not covered by either. The OECD release gives small and large firms only.
Firms in OECD countries using AI, by industry (2025)
| Industry | Using AI |
|---|---|
| Information and communication (ICT) | 57.3% |
| Professional and scientific services | 36.8% |
| All industries | 20.2% |
OECD, 28 Jan 2026. ICT is the highest industry and professional and scientific services the second. ICT firms in Sweden (87.9%), Austria (79.9%) and Finland (79.8%) are close to saturation.
McKinsey global survey: respondents whose organization uses AI, each year
| Survey | Share of respondents | What was asked |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 20% | Adopted AI in at least one business area |
| 2019 | 58% | Adopted AI in at least one business area (the peak before 2024) |
| 2022 | 50% | Adopted AI in at least one business area |
| 2023 | 55% | Use AI in at least one business function |
| Early 2024 | 72% | Use AI in at least one business function |
| 2024 | 78% | Use AI in at least one business function |
| Jun-Jul 2025 | 88% | Regularly use AI in at least one business function |
| May-Jun 2026 | Nearly nine in ten | Regularly use AI in at least one business function; no exact percent published |
Shares of survey respondents, not of all companies; many respondents work at large firms. In 2026, 44% said AI is scaling across their enterprise, up from 38% a year earlier.
Over time
Firms in OECD countries using AI, each year
| Year | Firms using AI |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 8.7% |
| 2024 | 14.2% |
| 2025 | 20.2% |
OECD ICT Access and Usage Database, countries where data are available. The OECD puts growth in firm-level AI use at 42.4% in 2025, slower than in earlier years.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 32% of jobs | Nov 2025 - Jan 2026 | Census working paper CES-WP-26-25 | Same US Census survey weighted by employment: about 18% of firms, but they hold 32% of jobs. |
| 78% of workers | Nov 2025 | Atlanta Fed Survey of Business Uncertainty (via Fed note) | Share of the labor force at firms that use AI, not a share of firms. |
| 44% | May - Jun 2026 | McKinsey State of AI 2026 | Respondents saying AI is scaling across the enterprise, a stricter test than any regular use. |
| 28.6% | 5-18 Oct 2026 | US Census Bureau, BTOS | US firms that expect to use AI in the next six months, not current use. |
| 17.4% vs 52.0% | 2025 | OECD | Small against large firms in the same data: the size of the firm moves the answer more than the year. |
There is no single share of companies using AI, because the surveys count different things. The official statistics (OECD 20.2%, Eurostat 19.95%, US Census 24.6%) count every firm once. Most firms are small, and small firms use AI less, so these shares are low. They also ask a narrow question: did the firm itself use AI, sometimes in a fixed recent period such as the last two weeks.
The high figures come from surveys of people at larger companies. McKinsey's 88% is a share of 1,993 respondents, 38% of whom work at organizations with more than $1 billion in revenue, and it counts regular use in any one function. The NBER's 78% comes from nearly 9,000 senior executives, and bigger firms are overrepresented among them. The Fed's 46% counts a small firm if the business or any employee uses AI for work, which includes staff using free chatbots.
McKinsey's own series also changed wording: before 2023 it asked about adopting AI in a business area, which is why its share sat near 50% for years and then jumped.
What it means
How to use these numbers
If you read that most companies use AI, check who was asked. Among all firms, AI is still a minority habit: about one firm in five in OECD countries in 2025, and one US employer firm in four in October 2026. Among large companies it is the norm. Half of large OECD firms use AI, and in executive surveys, where large companies weigh heavily, 78% to 88% say they do.
The direction is the same in every source. The OECD share more than doubled from 2023 to 2025, McKinsey's rose from 55% to 88% in two years, and the US Census rate rose in most waves through 2026.
For a business owner, the useful comparison is your size and sector, not the headline. A 20-person firm is closer to the 17.4% small-firm rate than to the 88% executive figure.
For journalists, quote the figure with its population and question: firms in OECD countries (20.2%), US employer firms in the last two weeks (24.6%), or respondents at mostly large companies (88%).
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- OECD
- ICT Access and Usage Database, firms in OECD countries where data are available (mostly 10 or more staff); announced 28 Jan 2026
- Eurostat
- Community survey on ICT usage in enterprises, EU enterprises with 10 or more staff, 2025
- McKinsey
- Online global survey, 1,993 respondents in 105 nations, 25 Jun to 29 Jul 2025; 1,719 respondents, 4 May to 8 Jun 2026
- NBER
- Working paper w34836, survey of nearly 9,000 CFOs, CEOs and senior executives in the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Canada, Mexico and South Africa, summer 2026
- US Census Bureau
- Business Trends and Outlook Survey, about 1.2 million US employer firms sampled, wave 5-18 Oct 2026
- Federal Reserve Banks
- Small Business Credit Survey, convenience sample of 6,525 employer firms with 1 to 499 staff, 3 Sep to 14 Nov 2025
- Checked at source
- 23 Oct 2026 (repo stats); 31 Oct 2026, the OECD announcement and the McKinsey State of AI pages for 2022 to 2026
- Last changed
- 30 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- ICT Access and Usage Database, OECD Official data
- ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises, Eurostat Official data
- The State of AI (McKinsey Global Survey), McKinsey & Company Survey
- NBER working papers, National Bureau of Economic Research Study
- Business Trends and Outlook Survey, US Census Bureau Official data
- Small Business Credit Survey, Federal Reserve Banks Survey
- Center for Economic Studies working papers, US Census Bureau Study
- Federal Reserve Board publications (SHED report, FEDS Notes, speeches), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Official data
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FAQ
More questions people ask
Has AI adoption by companies really jumped since 2023?
Yes, in every source. The OECD share of firms using AI went from 8.7% in 2023 to 20.2% in 2025. McKinsey's share of respondents went from 55% in 2023 to 88% in 2025.
Why did McKinsey's number stay near 50% for years?
From 2017 to 2022 McKinsey asked whether organizations had adopted AI in at least one business area. The share went from 20% in 2017 to a peak of 58% in 2019 and was 50% in 2022. Generative AI pushed it to 72% in early 2024.
Which industry uses AI the most?
Information and communication. 57.3% of ICT firms in OECD countries used AI in 2025, against 36.8% in professional and scientific services and 20.2% across all industries.
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (OECD, Eurostat, McKinsey & Company, National Bureau of Economic Research, US Census Bureau, Federal Reserve Banks, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System). Free to cite with a link to this page.