Eurostat's report provides insights on the utilization of information and communication technologies (ICT) by both European citizens and businesses in 2023. This report sheds light on the advancements made toward the EU's digital targets for 2030.

On one hand, the EU wants to develop its citizens digital skills, more specifically, 80% of all adults should have at least basic digital skills by 2030. According to this report, only 56% of EU citizens reached this level in 2023. People are however increasing their use of internet for different type of activities, mainly to communicate through emails or instant messages, but also to shop. Eurostat counts 75% of citizens that purchased a good or a service online in 2023, up from 57% in 2013.

On the other hand, a key point of the digital targets is the technology uptake in EU businesses, measured by the Digital Intensity Index (DII). By 2030, more than 90% of SMEs should reach at least a basic level of digital intensity, and 75% of EU companies should use cloud computing services, artificial intelligence (AI) or perform big data analysis. In 2023, almost 60% of SMEs reached the basic level of digital intensity, against 91% for large businesses. For the same year, 45% of all EU businesses bought cloud computing services, 8% used AI. Eurostat also underlines the rising presence of businesses on social medias and the development of remote practices at work such as online meetings’ conduction. Nevertheless, with the development of digital tools, cybersecurity represents a growing challenge for EU businesses. In 2022, 22% of EU businesses experienced ICT security incidents causing, for example, the unavailability of ICT services, destruction or corruption of data and disclosure of confidential data

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