State of AI Adoption in European Manufacturing 2026
Artificial-intelligence use across European businesses is no longer marginal: official Eurostat surveys show enterprise adoption roughly trebling in two years, from 8.0% of EU enterprises in 2023 to 20.0% in 2025. Manufacturing sits in the mid-range of sectors, and a sharp gap remains between large firms and smaller ones. This report pulls together the verified Eurostat figures on where AI adoption stands across European industry in 2026. All figures derive from the EU survey on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises and refer to enterprises with 10 or more employees.
Enterprise AI use has roughly trebled since 2023
Source: Eurostat — 20% of EU enterprises use AI technologies (2025)
The share of EU enterprises using AI technologies rose from 7.7% in 2021 to 8.0% in 2023, then jumped to 13.5% in 2024 and 20.0% in 2025. The steepest single-year move was 2023 to 2024 (+5.5 percentage points), with a further 6.5-point rise to 2025. The pattern points to AI shifting from early experimentation toward a standard business tool, though the survey measures any use of AI rather than depth of deployment, so the headline figure overstates how many firms run AI in core production processes.
Manufacturing sits in the middle of the sector pack
Source: Eurostat — Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises - Statistics Explained (2025)
In 2024, 17.3% of EU manufacturing enterprises reported using AI, above the EU all-sector average of 13.5% and ahead of construction (10.8%), transport and storage (11.2%) and accommodation and food services (12.0%), but well behind information and communication. Within manufacturing the most common applications were marketing and sales (30.4% of AI-using manufacturers) and the organisation of business administration or management processes (27.1%) — reminding readers that much industrial AI today supports back-office and commercial functions rather than the production line itself.
A wide gap between large firms and small ones
Source: Eurostat — Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises - Statistics Explained (2025)
Adoption rises sharply with firm size. In 2024, 41% of large EU enterprises used AI, against 21% of medium-sized firms and 11% of small ones. Because European manufacturing is heavily populated by small and medium-sized enterprises, this size gradient means that headline sector figures are pulled down by the long tail of smaller plants that have not yet adopted. Closing the gap is as much about cost, skills and data readiness in smaller firms as it is about the technology itself.
FAQ
How many European manufacturers use AI?
Eurostat reports that 17.3% of EU manufacturing enterprises with 10 or more employees used AI technologies in 2024. The all-sector EU average that year was 13.5%, rising to 20.0% across all sectors in 2025. These figures count any AI use, not only AI in production processes.
Why is AI adoption so much higher in large firms?
Large EU enterprises adopted AI at 41% in 2024, versus 21% for medium and 11% for small firms. Larger firms typically have more data, in-house technical skills and budget to absorb pilot costs, while smaller manufacturers more often face barriers around skills, data readiness and the cost of starting.
Sources
- Eurostat — 20% of EU enterprises use AI technologies (news, 2025)
- Eurostat — Usage of AI technologies increasing in EU enterprises (news, 2024 data)
- Eurostat — Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises - Statistics Explained
Related
Is Predictive Maintenance Worth It? · How to Reduce Industrial Energy Costs: Practical Quick Wins · Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) · Digital Twin
Charts: How widely manufacturers have adopted AI · The predictive-maintenance market trajectory
Sectors: Chemicals · Food Processing · Steel & Metals