In short
- In early 2025, 33.0% of Belgian businesses with 10 to 249 employees used at least one AI technology. The rate was 19.1% in Spain, 17.0% in France and 18.9% in the European Union (Eurostat).
- The France Num 2026 barometer shows 40% of French micro-businesses and SMEs as users, and 53% of SMEs. It does not ask the same question as Eurostat.
- None of the public statistics we consulted (Eurostat, Insee, INE, France Num) measures the use of AI agents by SMEs.
Updated on 12 October 2026. Next update planned: when the 2026 Eurostat data is published.
How many SMEs use artificial intelligence? The answer changes with the source, the question asked and the size of the businesses. This page brings together the most recent official figures available on 12 October 2026 for France, Spain and Belgium. Each figure points to its source at the bottom of the page. We plan to update it every year.
Businesses with 10 to 249 employees: Belgium 33%, Spain 19.1%, France 17%
Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union. In each country, the national statistical institute surveys businesses with a common questionnaire, at the start of each year. Eurostat then publishes the results for the whole Union. A business “uses AI” if it reports at least one of these eight technologies:
- text analysis;
- speech recognition;
- generation of text, speech or computer code;
- generation of images, videos or sounds;
- image recognition;
- machine learning to analyse data (the software learns from examples);
- process automation or decision support;
- machines that move on their own.
| Country | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 23,1 % | 33,0 % | +9.9 points |
| Spain | 10,3 % | 19,1 % | +8.8 points |
| France | 9,3 % | 17,0 % | +7.8 points |
| European Union (27 countries) | 12,6 % | 18,9 % | +6.3 points |
Source: Eurostat, table isoc_eb_ai, businesses with 10 to 249 employees, database updated on 15 June 2026. Changes calculated on unrounded values.
In one year, the share almost doubled in France and Spain. Belgium is far ahead. France remains below the European average.
In numbers, that would be about 31,000 businesses in France, 35,000 in Spain and 11,000 in Belgium. This is our own calculation, not a published figure: the 2025 rate multiplied by the number of businesses with 10 to 249 employees in 2023 (Eurostat, table sbs_sc_ovw). It is only an order of magnitude. This count dates from 2023 and covers a wider scope than the AI survey: it also includes, for example, financial activities.
For businesses with 10 or more employees, large ones included, the national institutes publish similar figures: 18% in France in 2025 (Insee), 21.1% in Spain in the first quarter of 2025 (INE, +8.7 points in one year). For that same size band, Eurostat publishes 18.2% for France and 20.3% for Spain.
Small and medium-sized businesses: nearly double
| Country | 10 to 49 employees | 50 to 249 employees |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 28,8 % | 54,5 % |
| Spain | 17,2 % | 30,1 % |
| France | 15,0 % | 30,8 % |
| European Union | 17,0 % | 30,4 % |
Source: Eurostat, isoc_eb_ai, 2025.
Everywhere, businesses with 50 to 249 employees use AI far more than those with 10 to 49. In France, the gap is nearly double. In Belgium, more than one medium-sized business in two already uses AI. Among French medium-sized businesses, the share more than doubled in one year: it was 14.5% in 2024.
France Num 2026: 40% of micro-businesses and SMEs, 53% of SMEs, 32% of SMEs on paid solutions
The France Num barometer is an annual survey by the Directorate-General for Enterprise (DGE), at the Ministry of the Economy. It covers micro-businesses (very small businesses, fewer than 10 employees, including those with none) and SMEs. For the 2026 edition, 9,655 French businesses were surveyed from 23 March to 18 April 2026. Results published in September 2026:
- 40% of micro-businesses and SMEs use at least one AI solution, 14 points more than a year earlier.
- 53% of SMEs, meaning businesses with 10 to 249 employees in this barometer. It was 34% in 2025.
- 19% of micro-businesses and SMEs pay for an AI solution. Among SMEs, it is 32%.
- Most cited uses: content generation (text, voice or image) 34%, conversational assistants and chatbots 24%, document analysis and sorting 13%, task automation 11%.
Why 53% here and 17% at Eurostat? The two surveys do not measure the same thing:
- The question. France Num asks businesses whether they use AI solutions. Eurostat counts businesses that use one of the eight technologies listed above. Insee, which runs this Europe-wide harmonised survey in France, specifies that its responses do not in principle include employees' occasional use of AI, for example of a conversational agent (a chat-type assistant).
- The date. The European survey covers early 2025, France Num the spring of 2026.
Both figures are correct, each within its own definition: quote them with it.
Why businesses do not use AI: skills, legal uncertainty, data protection
Eurostat asks businesses that do not use AI but have considered doing so why. This group is small: 11.0% of businesses with 10 to 249 employees in the European Union in 2025.
| Reason for not using AI | EU | Belgium | Spain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lack of skills | 70,5 % | 74,3 % | 82,6 % |
| Unclear legal consequences | 53,7 % | 58,0 % | 51,5 % |
| Concerns about data protection and privacy | 52,5 % | 50,7 % | 53,6 % |
Source: Eurostat, isoc_eb_ai, businesses with 10 to 249 employees that do not use AI but have considered it, 2025.
Eurostat does not publish these answers for France. Insee asks a similar question to all French businesses with 10 or more employees that do not use AI, whether or not they have considered it. In 2025:
- 71% say they see no use for it in their business;
- 54% mention a lack of in-house skills;
- 38% cite data protection, 38% an unclear legal framework and 38% incompatibility with their equipment or software;
- 32% find the costs too high.
Our reading: among businesses that have considered AI, the main barrier is lack of skills. In France, the first reason given is that AI does not seem useful. In both cases, the question is human first: knowing what to hand over to AI, how to check what it produces and who decides in the end.
What public statistics do not yet measure: the use of AI agents
An AI agent is a program that chains several steps of a task on its own. It reads a request, looks for the information, then prepares a reply or an action in a piece of software. None of the public sources we consulted (Eurostat, Insee, INE, France Num) publishes a figure on the use of AI agents by SMEs.
The closest indicators:
- Eurostat, “technologies that automate processes or help with decisions”: 4.8% of businesses with 10 to 249 employees in the EU, 9.6% in Belgium, 6.0% in Spain and 3.9% in France (2025).
- France Num, “task automation”: 11% of French micro-businesses and SMEs (2026).
These figures count automation in the broad sense, not tasks handed to an agent. Have you read a figure elsewhere on “AI agent adoption by SMEs”? It does not come from these public statistics. Look at who ran the survey, among how many businesses and with what question.
Method, sources and update date
- Date. Sources consulted on 12 October 2026.
- Eurostat. Table isoc_eb_ai, database updated on 15 June 2026. Size: Eurostat counts persons employed, salaried or not; we write “employees” for short. Scope: manufacturing, energy, water, construction, trade, transport, accommodation and food service, information and communication, real estate, business services. Not agriculture, not mining and quarrying, not finance. Values rounded to one decimal place.
- Barriers. Eurostat's summary article (data extracted in December 2025, businesses with 10 or more employees) gives 70.89%, 52.52% and 48.83%. We use the database, which is more recent, and the 10 to 249 employees band.
- Number of businesses. Eurostat, table sbs_sc_ovw, year 2023, bands of 10 to 19, 20 to 49 and 50 to 249 employees added together: 182,389 in France, 184,069 in Spain, 34,155 in Belgium.
- Next update. Eurostat announces the update of its summary article for December 2026; this page will follow.
Sources:
- Eurostat, isoc_eb_ai: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/isoc_eb_ai
- Eurostat, Use of artificial intelligence in enterprises: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Use_of_artificial_intelligence_in_enterprises
- Eurostat, sbs_sc_ovw: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/sbs_sc_ovw
- France Num, 2026 barometer: https://www.francenum.gouv.fr/guides-et-conseils/strategie-numerique/comprendre-le-numerique/barometre-france-num-2026-le
- DGE, press release of 28 September 2026: https://www.entreprises.gouv.fr/espace-presse/barometre-france-num-2026-quatre-tpe-pme-sur-dix-utilisent-desormais-lintelligence
- Service-public.fr, news item of 2 October 2026: https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/actualites/A19079
- Insee Première n° 2120, July 2026: https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/9025878
- INE, note of 22 October 2025: https://ine.es/dyngs/Prensa/es/ETICCE20241T2025.htm
Going further
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- To start from your case: the audit, €490 excl. VAT; its price is deducted from the quote if you sign it within 30 days.