The percentage of the working population – users who interact with AI for at least 90 minutes per month – in our country was 18.5% in Q1 in 2026, up 1.9% from the same period in 2025, according to a report released this week.
That’s above the global average – globally, 17.8% of users use AI regularly.
The UAE leads the world by a wide margin in this ranking, with an adoption rate of more than 70%, followed by Singapore with 63%. Meanwhile, the US is outside the top 20 of the global ranking, despite being home to many of the world’s leading AI companies (21st place, 31.3%).
Europe is also becoming a major center for AI adoption, with countries such as Norway, Ireland, France, Spain, and the Netherlands seeing usage rates exceeding 40%.
Smaller economies are winning the AI race
The rankings show that the creation of world-leading AI models does not automatically lead to their widespread use in everyday life.
Smaller economies such as the UAE and Singapore have been quicker to integrate AI into business, education and government services through centralized digital strategies and massive infrastructure investments. Canada (15th place) is above the United States.
One reason is scale. Implementing AI tools among a huge number of employees is much more difficult than in smaller, digitally centralized economies like Singapore or the UAE. But the rankings also show that building the world’s best AI models doesn’t automatically translate into their widespread use in everyday life.
The data also highlights the growing gap between the creation of AI and its actual use. While America dominates AI model development, chip design and venture capital funding, a number of smaller economies are integrating AI into everyday work at a faster pace.
Our neighbors
Romania ranks 64th with an adoption rate of 17.5% (in 2025 it was 15.3%).
Ukraine is in 117th position (9.4%, was 9.1%).
Russia is only one rank higher – 116th place and 9.5%.
Tajikistan (6.1%), Afghanistan (6.1%) and Cambodia (5.7%) close the ranking.
