Digital economy and society statistics - enterprises

Data extracted in January 2026

Planned article update: January 2027

Highlights

In 2025, 63.57% of EU enterprises used social media.

In 2025, 52.74% of EU enterprises used paid cloud computing services.

The share of EU enterprises using fixed internet connections of more than 1 Gb/s was 17.29% in 2025.

Enterprises performing data analytics by own employees or by an external provider, 2025

This article presents recent statistical data on several different aspects of the digital economy and society in the European Union (EU), focusing on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by enterprises.

Progress in the development of the digital economy is regarded as essential to improve the competitiveness of the EU’s economy. ICT have quickly become an integral part of how enterprises function: indeed, their extensive use has had a profound impact on how businesses are run, touching upon a range of aspects such as how they organise their production or service provision processes and their internal or external communication.

This article presents recent statistics on the use of the internet by enterprises; the functionalities provided by enterprises’ websites; the use of social media by enterprises and the use of e-business applications. Other important topics in the article reflect the adoption in the EU enterprises of some advanced technologies like cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Access and use of the internet

Enterprises connected to the internet via fixed broadband

In 2025, the vast majority (95.01%) of EU enterprises with at least 10 employees and self-employed used a fixed broadband connection to access the internet (see Figure 1). The share was even higher for medium and large enterprises, where almost all enterprises reported to connect to the internet via fixed broadband.

Figure 1: Enterprises with fixed broadband connection, by speed and size class, EU, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_it_es)

More than 40% of large enterprises use internet connections faster than 1Gb/s

With almost all enterprises connected to the internet via broadband, the speed of these connections still deserves attention, as the use of other more advanced technologies by the enterprises often relies on high speed of the internet. In 2025, 5.13% of enterprises in the EU had an internet connection speed that was below < 30 Mb/s, with higher shares having a connection that was in the range of ≥ 30 Mb/s but < 100 Mb/s (20.82%) and in the range of ≥ 100 Mb/s but < 500 Mb/s (32.23%). Nearly one fifth (19.45%) had a connection in the range of ≥ 500 Mb/s but < 1 Gb/s, while the fastest internet connections (at least 1 Gb/s) were used by more than one sixth (17.29%) of enterprises in the EU. As can be seen from Figure 1, the share of large enterprises using the fastest connection speeds (≥ 1 Gb/s) was more than two and a half times higher (40.69%) than the figure recorded for small enterprises (15.32%).

In 2025, 79.01% of EU enterprises had a website

The use of ICT has the potential to make significant changes to the way that enterprises are run, the adoption of ICT-based solutions within business processes is often referred to using the generic term of ‘e-business’. Figure 2 presents information in relation to one of the most basic types of e-business that is used by enterprises, namely having a website. In 2025, more than three quarters (79.01%) of enterprises in the EU had a website, with a much higher share for large enterprises (95.65%) compared with small enterprises (76.66%). The most popular functionalities provided by enterprises’ websites were related to the description of goods and services and price lists (66.36% of enterprises), advertisement of open job positions or online job application (31.34%) and content available in at least 2 languages (29.51%).

Figure 2: Enterprises having a website, by functionality and size class, EU, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ciweb)

Enterprises using social media

Enterprises use social media for image building or for marketing purposes, for gaining insights from customers or communicating within or outside the enterprise or for recruiting. The three most widely known categories of social media include: social networks (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing, Viadeo, Viva Engage), corporate blogs or microblogs such as X and multimedia content-sharing websites (e.g. YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat).

Social media is used by nearly two thirds of EU enterprises

As shown in Figure 3, 63.57% of EU enterprises used any category of social media in 2025. The share of large enterprises, which used any type of social media stood at 89.09% and was 28.5 percentage points higher than the figure recorded for small enterprises employing 10 to 49 people (60.59%).

Figure 3: Enterprises using social media, by size class, EU, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cismt)

Figure 4 presents the use of social media by enterprises in the countries. Social media was most popular among enterprises in Finland, where 87.59% of enterprises reported to use any category of social media. In 5 other EU countries (Malta, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium) the recorded figures were higher than 80%. The share of enterprises using social media was less than 45% in Bulgaria (41.51%).

Figure 4: Enterprises using social media, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cismt)

E-business integration

E-business integration refers to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by enterprises to run, integrate and improve their business processes, share and exchange information internally, analyse data or communicate with business partners and customers. The sharing and exchange of information electronically and automatically between different business functions within the enterprise is implemented using software applications for enterprise resource planning (ERP). The integration and management of the communitarian with customers is implemented by the use of customer relationship management (CRM) applications. Furthermore, the analysis of data from internal and external sources and the presentation of the findings in reports, graphs, charts and maps with the aim to provide users with insights for decision-making and strategic planning is done with Business Intelligence (BI) software.

More than 1 in 3 enterprises use enterprise resource planning (ERP) software applications

The percentage of EU enterprises that used ERP software applications reached 46.45% in 2025. The share of small enterprises using ERP software applications was 41.08%, and it was more than one and a half times lower than the percentage recorded for medium (69.93%) and more than 2 times lower than the percentage for large enterprises (88.71%). Customer relationship management (CRM) applications were used by one-fourth (28.51%) of EU enterprises in 2025. The share of small enterprises using CRM applications stood at 24.69% and was 16.39 pp lower than the figure recorded for the use of ERP software. The adoption of CRM applications among large enterprises (65.43%) was 23.28 pp lower compared to the use of ERP. The share of enterprises using Business Intelligence (BI) software was 16.28% in 2025 and it was lower than the shares recorded for both ERP and CRM software. Among large enterprises however, BI software was used slightly more than CRM software (69.24%). In 2025, more than half of EU enterprises (53.47%) used any ERP, CRM, or BI business software (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Adoption of e-business applications in enterprises, by type and size class, EU, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_eb_iip)

Among the 3 types of business software, the ERP was used by the highest share of EU enterprises. In 2025, more than 60% the enterprises in Denmark (66.25%), Belgium (62.45%) and Spain (60.38%) used an ERP software package to share information between different functional areas. On the other hand, ERP software was used by less than one quarter of enterprises in Croatia (21.89%) (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Enterprises having ERP software package, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_eb_iip)

Cloud Computing

Instead of building or expanding their own IT infrastructure, enterprises can buy computing resources hosted by third parties on the internet. This pool of resources is most commonly known as ‘cloud computing’ and includes flexible, on demand access to services like software, computing power, storage capacity etc.

Cloud computing services used by 52.74% of enterprises in the EU

In 2025, 52.74% of enterprises in the EU with more than 10 employees and self-employed reported that they used paid cloud computing services (see Figure 7). The adoption of cloud computing was at a very high level among large enterprises with a share of 84.67% of enterprises. Almost half of EU enterprises (44.91%) relied on a cloud solution for their e-mails. More than 1 in 3 enterprises reported using it for office software (37.81%), for storing files (37.73%), or for security software applications (34.54%). Nearly one quarter of enterprises (24.01%) used the cloud to host their database. Most importantly, via the cloud, enterprises have access to more sophisticated applications, for finances/accounting (30.67%), for planning their processes and resources (enterprise resource planning - ERP) (15.88%) and for managing information about their customers (customer relationship management – CRM) (14.72%). 14.86% of enterprises reported using cloud computing power in order to run their own business software applications. In addition, almost 1 in 7 enterprises (13.76%) purchased cloud computing services as computing platform providing a hosted environment for application development, testing or deployment.

Figure 7: Enterprises using paid cloud computing services, by type and size class, EU, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_use)

In 2025, the use of paid cloud computing services varied significantly among EU countries. The highest shares were reported in Finland (79.21%), Italy (75.60%) and Malta (74.87%). On the other hand, cloud computing services were used by fewer than 1 in 4 enterprises in Bulgaria (17.83%), Greece (24.33%) and Romania (24.94%) (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Enterprises using paid cloud computing services, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_cicce_use)

Data analytics

Data analytics refers to the use of technologies, techniques or software tools for analysing internal data or data from external sources and to extract patterns, trends and insights from the data to make conclusions, predictions and better decision-making with the aim to improve the performance in the enterprise (e.g. increase production, reduce costs).

Data analytics performed by more than two thirds of large EU enterprises

In 2025, one third (33.02%) of enterprises in the EU with more than 10 employees and self-employed were performing data analytics by own employees. The share of large enterprises (78.84%) where own employees performed data analytics was almost 3 times higher compared with small enterprises (27.86%). Data analytics was performed on data from different sources. In more than 1 in 4 enterprises (26.20%) data analytics was performed on data from transaction records such as sale details, payments records. Analytics on data about customers was performed by 17.62% of enterprises. The third most common data source for data analytics was data from social media that was used by more than 1 in 9 enterprises (11.44%). The least popular data source was satellite data, where 3.58% of EU enterprises reported to perform data analytics on such data (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Enterprises performing data analytics by own employees, by data source and size class, EU, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_eb_das)

In 2025, 33.02% of enterprises in the EU performed data analytics by own employees. In 13.85% of enterprises data analytics for the enterprise was performed by external enterprise or organisation (see Eurostat data source isoc_eb_das). Combined, 39.85% of EU enterprises performed data analytics either by own employees or by an external provider.

Among EU countries, more than half of enterprises performed data analytics either by own employees or by an external provider in Denmark (59.99%), Estonia (55.99%), the Netherlands (55.96%), Lithuania (54.11%) and Belgium (52.09%). In contrast, less than 30% of enterprises in Bulgaria (27.05%), Austria (26.34%), and Poland (24.50%) reported performing data analytics in 2025 (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Enterprises performing data analytics by own employees or by an external provider, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_eb_das)

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to systems that use technologies such as: text mining, computer vision, speech recognition, natural language generation, machine learning, deep learning to gather and/or use data to predict, recommend or decide, with varying levels of autonomy, the best action to achieve specific goals. Artificial intelligence systems can be purely software based or embedded in devices.

1 in 5 EU enterprises used AI technologies in 2025

In 2025, 19.95% of enterprises in the EU with more than 10 employees and self-employed reported using one or several of the following AI technologies:

AI technologies performing analysis of written language (text mining)
AI technologies for machine learning (e.g. deep learning)
AI technologies automating different workflows or assisting in decision making
AI technologies converting spoken language into machine-readable format (speech recognition)
AI technologies identifying objects or persons based on images (image recognition, image processing)
AI technologies generating written or spoken language or programming codes (natural language generation, speech synthesis)
AI technologies enabling physical movement of machines via autonomous decisions based on observation of surroundings
AI technologies generating pictures, videos, sound/audio

The share of large enterprises using these AI technologies stood at 55.03% and was significantly higher than the value recorded for small enterprise (17%). The difference might be explained with the complexity of the implementation of the AI technologies within the enterprise. Among the listed AI technologies, EU enterprises used most AI technologies performing analysis of written language (11.75%), AI technologies for generating pictures, videos, sound/audio (9.55%) and AI technologies generating written or spoken language or programming codes (8.76%). Again, the share of large enterprises reported using these types of AI technologies was 3 to 8 times higher reaching 35.04% for the AI technologies performing analysis of written language (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Enterprises using AI technologies, by type and size class, EU, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_eb_ai)

Among EU countries, AI technologies were used by more than one third of enterprises in Denmark (42.03%), Finland (37.82%), Sweden (35.04%), Belgium (34.54%) and Luxembourg (33.61%). On the other hand, less than 10% of enterprises were using AI technologies in Cyprus (9.27%), Greece (8.93%), Bulgaria (8.55%), Poland (8.36%) and Romania (5.21%) (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Enterprises using AI technologies, 2025
Source: Eurostat (isoc_eb_ai)

Source data for tables and graphs

Digital economy and society — enterprises: tables and figures

Data sources

Rapid technological changes in areas related to the internet and other new applications of ICTs pose challenges for statistics. As such, this area of statistics changes at a relatively rapid pace, compared with most other official statistics. Indeed, statistical tools are adapted to satisfy new demands for data and the ICT survey is reassessed on an annual basis in order to reflect the rapid pace of technological change.

The information presented in this article is based on the results of a EU survey on ICT usage and e-commerce in enterprises. The statistics were obtained from enterprise surveys conducted by national statistical authorities. The results of this annual survey are used to benchmark ICT-driven developments, both by following developments for core variables over time and by looking in greater depth at other aspects at a specific point in time.

While the survey on ICT usage in enterprises initially concentrated on e-commerce, internet access and connectivity issues, its scope has subsequently been extended to cover a wider variety of subjects (for example, cloud computing, social media, mobile connections to the internet, the use of e-business solutions, ICT specialists, the outsourcing of ICT functions, the use of IoT and artificial intelligence, data analysis and 3D printing).

Coverage

The statistical observation unit is the enterprise, as defined in Regulation (EEC) No 696/93. Note that the annual survey on ICT usage in enterprises covers enterprises that have at least 10 employees and self-employed persons.

The activity coverage of the survey is restricted to those enterprises whose principal activity is within NACE Rev. 2 Sections C to N excluding Section K and Division 75, but including Group 95.1. These are manufacturing; electricity, gas, steam and water supply, sewerage and waste management; construction; wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; transportation and storage; accommodation and food service activities; information and communication; real estate; professional, scientific and technical activities (excluding veterinary activities); administrative and support activities; and the repair of computers and communication equipment.

The data collected can be analysed according to enterprise size classes (defined in terms of employees and self-employed persons), with information presented for small enterprises (10-49 employees and self-employed persons), medium enterprises (50-249 employees and self-employed persons) and large enterprises (250 or more employees and self-employed persons).

The data are organised in Eurostat's online database according to the year in which the survey was conducted. Most data refer to the situation during the early part of the same year as the survey. However, data on e-commerce, recruitment of ICT specialists and consequences of ICT related security incidents refer to the calendar year preceding the survey (in other words, to 2023 for the 2024 survey).

Context

In 2019, the new European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, described how she wanted the EU to grasp the opportunities presented by the digital age. Indeed, A Europe fit for the digital age is 1 of 6 Commission priorities for the period 2019-2024. Such a digital transformation is based on the premise that digital technologies and solutions should: open up new opportunities for businesses; boost the development of trustworthy technology; foster an open and democratic society; enable a vibrant and sustainable economy; help fight climate change. With this in mind, during February 2020 the European Commission adopted an overarching presentation of the Commission's ideas and actions for Shaping Europe's Digital Future, as well as specific proposals in relation to:

A European strategy for data which seeks to promote the EU as a leading role model for a society empowered by data to make better decisions — in business and the public sector; and
White Paper on Artificial Intelligence — A European approach to excellence and trust which supports a regulatory and investment oriented approach with the twin objectives of promoting the uptake of artificial intelligence and addressing the risks associated with certain uses of this new technology.

In 2021, the Digital Compass for the EU's Digital Decade (COM(2021)118 final, set the EU's digital targets for 2030 by the evolving around 4 cardinal points: skills, digital transformation of businesses, secure and sustainable digital infrastructures, and digitalization of public services.

Explore further

Database

Digital economy and society, see:

ICT usage in enterprises (isoc_e)

Connection to the internet (isoc_ci)

Type of connections to the internet by NACE Rev. 2 activity (isoc_ci_it_en2)

Type of connections to the internet by size class of enterprise (isoc_ci_it_es)

Websites and use of social media (isoc_cism)

Websites and functionalities by NACE Rev. 2 activity (isoc_ciwebn2)

Websites and functionalities by size class of enterprise (isoc_ciweb)

Social media use by type, internet advertising and NACE Rev. 2 activity (isoc_cismtn2)

Social media use by type, internet advertising and size class of enterprise (isoc_cismt)

E-business (isoc_eb)

Integration of internal processes by NACE Rev. 2 activity (isoc_eb_iipn2)

Integration of internal processes by size class of enterprise (isoc_eb_iip)

Cloud computing services by NACE Rev. 2 activity (isoc_cicce_usen2)

Cloud computing services by size class of enterprise (isoc_cicce_use)

Artificial intelligence by NACE Rev. 2 activity (isoc_eb_ain2)

Artificial intelligence by size class of enterprise (isoc_eb_ai)

Data analytics by NACE Rev. 2 activity (isoc_eb_dan2)

Data analytics by size class of enterprise (isoc_eb_das)

Digital economy and society see:

ICT usage in enterprises (t_isoc_e)

Thematic section

Digital economy and society

Publications

External links