Data released by Eurostat shows that the use of artificial intelligence in Greece is highly divided, with widespread adoption by individuals but limited adoption by businesses.
A quick scan of Greek social media accounts reveals a wealth of content, primarily photos and videos, created using artificial intelligence applications. That familiarity is reflected in figures showing that Greece has the highest rate of civilian AI use in the EU at 49.5%, compared to an EU average of 34.8%.
However, the use remains primarily personal rather than professional or educational. Approximately 45.9% of Greek citizens use AI tools for personal purposes, the second highest percentage after Cyprus at 46.2%, while the EU average is 27.2%. In contrast, only 18% use such tools for professional purposes and 12.6% in formal education.
Meanwhile, Greek companies lag behind their European peers in both AI adoption and overall digitization, despite recent advances in digital transformation. Less than 1 in 10 companies, or 8.93%, use AI technology, compared to around 20% across the EU.
This gap is partly related to the structure of the economy, where most businesses are small or very small. Overall, 43.5% of companies are classified as having very low digital strength, compared to 27.9% in the EU. High digital intensity was recorded at 19.3% and very high at 6.3%, compared to 27.5% and 10.1% in the EU.
The disparity between SMEs and large corporations is significant. Approximately 44% of small businesses have low digital strength, compared to 7.5% of large businesses. Nearly 70% of large businesses have high or very high digital strength, compared to 25% of small businesses and only 5.9% reach a high level.
The limitations of digital capacity are also evident in cybersecurity, where the adoption of protection tools is slow. In 2024, 22% of EU companies faced a cybersecurity incident and 93% had at least one security measure in place. In Greece, this figure was 72%, the lowest among member states.
E-commerce fared slightly better, with around 25% of businesses selling online, higher than the EU average of 23.6%. Demand remains high, with 91.3% of internet users aged 16-24 shopping online, 76.9% of those aged 25-64, and 42.8% of those aged 65-74. Food delivery leads with 63.9%.
