The share of companies using artificial intelligence in the European Union’s strategic sectors has more than doubled in four years. A new report from the Joint Research Centre (JRC), released on October 14, 2026, found that AI use rose from 7% of firms in 2021 to 18% in 2025.
Every one of the 10 sectors studied saw growth. However, the pace of adoption was uneven across industries.
The 10 sectors are covered by the EU’s Apply AI Strategy, launched a year ago. They include agri-food, climate, defence, electronic communications, energy, manufacturing, media, mobility, pharma and tourism.
The EU considers these sectors essential for economic security, the green and digital transitions, and defence readiness. The strategy aims to boost AI uptake and help organisations weigh the risks and opportunities of AI tools.
Across the wider EU economy, adoption was slightly higher. The share of all firms using AI grew from 8% in 2021 to 20% in 2025.
Media, Energy and Electronics Lead EU AI Adoption
Media and cultural sectors are in front, with 38% of firms using AI, up from 13% in 2021. Energy follows at 34%, up from 18%, and electronic communications at 30%, up from 12%.
In these sectors, firms use AI for many business tasks. These range from ICT security to research and production.
Pharma reached 23%, while defence reached 20%. Climate and manufacturing both stood at 16%.
Mobility, tourism and agri-food have the lowest uptake. Agri-food and tourism reached 13%, and mobility reached 12%. In these sectors, AI is still mostly used for marketing, sales and other simple tasks.
The report found that growth is mainly driven by general-purpose AI, including large language models. These tools analyse or create text, code, images, sound and video, and they have become cheaper and easier to access.
Skills Gaps and Regulation Slow AI Uptake
The JRC said many firms still need to build AI into core processes such as production. The report states that this is where the largest productivity gains are possible.
Capital-intensive sectors, such as energy and electronics, saw stronger growth than sectors that rely more on labour. Firms that made larger organisational changes to use AI were also more likely to use it in production. This was the case in energy, electronic communications and defence.
The use of ready-made AI tools differed by sector. The climate sector has medium AI uptake but low use of off-the-shelf tools, since its work needs more customisation. Manufacturing ranks higher than climate for ready-made tools, even though its overall uptake is lower.
A lack of relevant expertise was named as the main obstacle in most sectors. The two biggest bottlenecks were a shortage of specialised skills and regulatory uncertainty, including concerns about data protection and privacy.
The report suggests that digital initiatives, skills training and organisational change can help firms move from basic tools to deeper use. The analysis drew on Eurostat survey data on ICT use in enterprises collected between 2021 and 2025.
The JRC said its results will help policymakers set targets and create new sector-specific measures to raise AI adoption in the EU’s strategic sectors.
