By Aijaz Alam
What percentage of businesses use cloud computing?
52.74% of EU enterprises with 10 or more employees paid for cloud computing services in 2025, according to Eurostat, up from 45.32% in 2023 and 17.82% in 2014. Use rises with size: 49.3% of small, 66.78% of medium and 84.67% of large enterprises. Finland leads at 79.21%; Bulgaria is lowest at 17.83%.
- 52.74%EU enterprises (10+ staff) paying for cloud computing servicesEurostat, 2025 survey
- 84.67%Large enterprises (250+ staff) buying cloud servicesEurostat, 2025 survey
- 49.3%Small enterprises (10 to 49 staff) buying cloud servicesEurostat, 2025 survey
- 85.15%Cloud-buying enterprises that use cloud e-mailEurostat, 2025 survey
- 27.91%Cloud-buying enterprises that use cloud CRMEurostat, 2025 survey
The numbers
The full breakdown
EU enterprises paying for cloud computing services, by size, 2023 and 2025
| Size (employees and self-employed) | 2023 | 2025 | Change (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (10 to 49) | 41.82% | 49.3% | +7.48 |
| Medium (50 to 249) | 59.09% | 66.78% | +7.69 |
| Large (250 or more) | 77.77% | 84.67% | +6.9 |
| All enterprises (10 or more) | 45.32% | 52.74% | +7.42 |
Eurostat article "Cloud computing - statistics on the use by enterprises" (data extracted January 2026) and database isoc_cicce_use (updated 27 Feb 2026). Paid cloud services bought over the internet; free services are not counted.
What cloud-buying EU enterprises use the cloud for, 2025
| Cloud service | Share of enterprises that buy cloud services |
|---|---|
| 85.15% | |
| Office software (word processors, spreadsheets) | 71.69% |
| Storage of files | 71.53% |
| Security software | 65.49% |
| Finance or accounting software | 58.16% |
| Hosting the enterprise's database | 45.52% |
| ERP (enterprise resource planning) | 30.12% |
| Computing power to run the enterprise's own software | 28.18% |
| CRM (customer relationship management) | 27.91% |
| Platform for developing, testing or deploying applications | 26.08% |
Eurostat article, 2025. Base: enterprises that buy paid cloud services. By service model, 96.44% of them bought at least one SaaS service, 77.25% IaaS and 26.08% PaaS. Accounting software (+6.52 points) and office software (+5.42) grew most since 2023.
Enterprises paying for cloud computing services, by country, 2023 and 2025
| Country | 2023 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Finland | 78.29% | 79.21% |
| Italy | 61.39% | 75.6% |
| Malta | 66.74% | 75.07% |
| Ireland | 63.1% | 73.04% |
| Sweden | 71.62% | 72% |
| Denmark | 69.48% | 68.88% |
| Netherlands | 64.19% | 68.49% |
| Belgium | 51.69% | 61.62% |
| Estonia | 58.57% | 60.66% |
| Lithuania | 38.39% | 58.06% |
| Czechia | 47.15% | 54.9% |
| Poland | 55.67% | 54.71% |
| Germany | 47% | 53.91% |
| Austria | 46.48% | 52.08% |
| Cyprus | 52.93% | 51.38% |
| Slovenia | 40.21% | 48.04% |
| Hungary | 44.94% | 47.96% |
| Luxembourg | 37.04% | 47.7% |
| Croatia | 45.08% | 46.61% |
| Latvia | 35.76% | 44.08% |
| Spain | 30.04% | 41.65% |
| France | 26.76% | 40.41% |
| Portugal | 37.5% | 38.71% |
| Slovakia | 34.42% | 36.44% |
| Romania | 18.4% | 24.94% |
| Greece | 23.59% | 24.33% |
| Bulgaria | 17.5% | 17.83% |
| EU (27 countries) | 45.32% | 52.74% |
| Norway (not EU) | 71.34% | 66.54% |
Eurostat database isoc_cicce_use (updated 27 Feb 2026), enterprises with 10 or more employees. The January 2026 article gave Malta 74.87%; the database now shows 75.07%. Three EU countries fell between 2023 and 2025 (Denmark, Poland and Cyprus), and so did Norway.
Over time
EU enterprises paying for cloud computing services, every survey since 2014
| Year | All enterprises (10+) | Small (10 to 49) | Medium (50 to 249) | Large (250+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 17.82% | 16.69% | 21.94% | 31.56% |
| 2016 | 18.9% | 16.9% | 26.16% | 42.11% |
| 2018 | 23.9% | 21.24% | 33.74% | 53.06% |
| 2020 | 36.1% | 33.5% | 45.66% | 64.94% |
| 2021 | 40.97% | 37.92% | 52.96% | 71.59% |
| 2023 | 45.32% | 41.82% | 59.09% | 77.77% |
| 2025 | 52.74% | 49.3% | 66.78% | 84.67% |
Eurostat database isoc_cicce_use (updated 27 Feb 2026), EU 27 countries (from 2020). The cloud module is not asked every year. Eurostat's indicators for the list of cloud services are marked "until 2020" and were redefined from 2021, so compare years before and after 2021 with care.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 52.74% | 2025 | Eurostat | Share of all EU enterprises with 10+ staff that pay for any cloud service. |
| 85.15% | 2025 | Eurostat | Share of cloud buyers that use cloud e-mail, not a share of all firms. |
| 96.44% | 2025 | Eurostat | Share of cloud buyers that buy at least one SaaS service. |
| 40.89% | 2025 | Eurostat | Share of all enterprises buying at least one sophisticated cloud service (security, database hosting or a development platform). |
Cloud adoption figures differ mainly because of the base. Eurostat's headline, 52.74%, is the share of all EU enterprises with 10 or more staff that pay for at least one cloud service. The much higher numbers you will see, such as 85.15% using cloud e-mail or 96.44% buying software as a service, are shares of the cloud buyers only, so they describe what the 52.74% do, not how many firms use the cloud.
The definition matters too. Eurostat counts only paid services bought over the internet, so a firm using only free webmail or a free file-sharing tool is not counted. Large enterprises, where Eurostat's own figure is 84.67%, are far ahead of the average, so any survey that leans toward big companies will show a higher share.
Finally, the survey skips firms with fewer than 10 staff and covers only the EU and a few neighbours. There is no official US figure on the same basis.
What it means
How to use these numbers
Paying for the cloud is now normal for EU firms with 10 or more staff, but only just: a little over half did in 2025, up from fewer than one in five in 2014. Large enterprises are close to saturation at 84.67%, so most of the growth left is among small firms, which rose 7.48 points in two years to 49.3%.
What firms buy is mostly the basics. Among cloud buyers, e-mail, office software and file storage are used by 70% or more, while business applications lag: CRM at 27.91% and ERP at 30.12%. For SaaS companies selling to European SMBs, that gap is the opportunity; for buyers, it suggests that moving accounting, customer records and planning tools to the cloud is still the less common step.
The country spread is wide, from 79.21% in Finland to 17.83% in Bulgaria. Italy jumped from 61.39% to 75.6% between 2023 and 2025, while Denmark and Poland edged down.
The EU's Digital Decade target is for three in four companies to use cloud computing services, big data or AI by 2030.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- Eurostat, community survey on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises; article "Cloud computing - statistics on the use by enterprises" and database isoc_cicce_use
- Sample
- 157,000 of 1.53 million EU enterprises with 10 or more employees or self-employed persons, surveyed in 2025
- Definition
- Enterprises that buy cloud computing services used over the internet: on-demand, scalable and paid (pay-per-user, pay-per-use or pre-paid)
- Population
- Enterprises with 10 or more employees and self-employed persons, excluding agriculture, mining and finance
- Checked at source
- 31 Oct 2026: the Statistics Explained article and the isoc_cicce_use database (updated 27 Feb 2026) on ec.europa.eu
- Next release
- Recent surveys asked about cloud use in 2021, 2023 and 2025; the next cloud module is expected in the 2027 survey
- Last changed
- 31 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises, Eurostat Official data
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FAQ
More questions people ask
Do small businesses use cloud services as much as large ones?
No. In 2025, 49.3% of small EU enterprises (10 to 49 staff) paid for cloud services, against 66.78% of medium and 84.67% of large enterprises. Small firms grew fastest since 2023, by 7.48 points.
Which EU country uses cloud computing the most?
Finland: 79.21% of enterprises paid for cloud services in 2025, followed by Italy (75.6%), Malta and Ireland. Bulgaria (17.83%), Greece (24.33%) and Romania (24.94%) were lowest.
Which sectors use cloud services most?
Information and communication, where 82.92% of enterprises paid for cloud services in 2025, then professional, scientific and technical activities at 67.39%. Most other sectors were between 39.52% and 62.11%.
How dependent are firms on the cloud?
77.53% of EU firms that buy cloud services buy at least one sophisticated service, such as security software, database hosting or a development platform, which Eurostat counts as highly dependent on the cloud. That is 40.89% of all enterprises.
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (Eurostat). Free to cite with a link to this page.