A new analysis of an earlier year

The European Commission's Joint Research Centre says the share of firms using AI in EU strategic sectors reached 18% in 2025, compared with 7% in 2021. Its analysis, released on October 14, groups enterprise survey data around the industries covered by the Commission's Apply AI strategy.

The news is the sector analysis and its interpretation. The observation year is 2025. Presenting this as the current adoption rate in October 2026 would give readers a more up-to-date picture than the evidence supports.

Tools do not all reach the factory floor

The report's public abstract describes broader use in media, energy and electronic communications, but narrower use in tourism and agri-food. In the latter sectors, recent growth has concentrated on analysing or generating content for marketing and sales.

That is a useful distinction for anyone assessing an AI investment. A company can use a writing tool without redesigning its production process. Both count as adoption in ordinary conversation, yet they imply different work, costs and organisational demands.

The JRC's summary identifies missing expertise as a widespread obstacle. It argues for sector-specific support rather than treating every industry as if it faces the same integration problem. That is the institution's policy interpretation, not a demonstrated effect of a new support programme.

Keep the survey population attached

Eurostat's annual enterprise ICT survey normally covers businesses with at least 10 employees and self-employed persons in selected economic activities. Coverage of smaller firms is optional. It is not a census of every employer, sole trader or public organisation.

The JRC maps those activity categories to strategic sectors. Its 18% figure should therefore travel with that definition. The 20% figure in the same announcement describes a broader set of EU economic activities; the two figures should not be treated as contradictory estimates of an identical population.

Coverage is uneven within the sectors, too. The report's Table 1 estimates that the survey covers 8% of agri-food firms: farming, fishing and aquaculture are outside its scope. This is a coverage figure, not an AI adoption rate. A sector label can describe a much wider industry than the businesses actually measured.

The report also warns that it lacks linked company-level responses. It cannot establish which specific technologies an individual firm uses for which purpose. We reviewed its methods and coverage table, but did not independently reproduce the calculations.

Adoption is a starting point for questions

For a business reader, the next questions are concrete: which task changed, how widely staff use the system, what it costs to maintain and whether outcomes improved. An adoption percentage answers none of those on its own.

Our earlier coverage examined regional differences in Eurostat's 2025 data. This new JRC release changes the lens to industries and integration. It adds context for judging where AI tools have spread, while leaving productivity gains and their causes to separate evidence.

Sources

  1. JRC: AI adoption across EU strategic sectorsOctober 14 institutional release: 7% in 2021, 18% in 2025, broader 20% comparison, sector coverage and policy interpretation. Rounded figures are attributed to the JRC.
  2. JRC146753: Measuring AI adoption in the European UnionOctober 14 report and author abstract. PDF pages 6-8 (file pages 8-10), section 2.2 and Table 1 reviewed: mapping and firm-count weighting, incomplete coverage, lack of linked microdata, and 8% agri-food coverage. Calculations not independently reproduced.
  3. Eurostat: enterprise ICT survey coveragePrimary survey description: statistical unit, reference period, selected economic activities, normal 10-person threshold and optional coverage below it.