Artificial Intelligence in Belgium: statistics, trends and key figures for AI in business (2025)

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a major driver of transformation for businesses and workers around the world.

In Belgium, AI adoption is progressing, but it comes with challenges related to trust, training and regulation. This article explores the key statistics and trends shaping the AI landscape in Belgium.

Here are statistics and trends by category and theme concerning artificial intelligence in Belgium, taken from the sources provided:

1. Adoption and use of AI in companies in Belgium

Overall adoption rate :

• Only a third of Belgian workers who use a computer at least one hour a day regularly use generative AI applications like ChatGPT (PwC Belgium, May 2025).
• 40% of workers use no AI tools at all (PwC Belgium, May 2025).
• Regular use of generative AI tools has risen from 13% last year to 34% this year (PwC Belgium, May 2025).
• A quarter of Belgian companies (with more than 10 employees) use at least one AI application, an increase of 80% on the previous year (Acerta, February 2025).
• Belgium ranks third in Europe for the use of AI in business, behind Denmark and Sweden, with the EU average at 13.5% (Acerta, February 2025).
• A quarter (24%) of Belgian workers regularly use AI at work, a 50% increase on the 16% in 2024 (SD Worx, February 2025).
• 63% of Belgians use AI for professional, study or personal purposes (KPMG, April 2025).

AI adoption by company size in Belgium:

In 2023, AI was present in 23% of medium-sized companies (+6 points in 2 years, +10 points in 3 years) (FPS Economy, 2023 data).

Only 7.5% of Belgian micro-businesses and 10.6% of small businesses use AI (FPS Economy, 2023 data).

AI adoption progresses fastest in large companies (+18 points), followed by medium-sized (+13 points) and small companies (+10 points) (Acerta, February 2025).

Belgian companies and AI adoption by sector

The service sector is the most advanced, with 27.4% of companies using AI (Acerta, February 2025).

Manufacturing saw a 52% increase in AI use last year, and construction 110% (Acerta, February 2025).

Frequency of AI use in Belgian companies

15% of workers use generative AI tools daily, and 19% use them at least once a week (PwC Belgium, May 2025).

For business-specific AI tools, 9% use them daily and 8% at least once a week (PwC Belgium, May 2025).

Among AI users, more than a third use it at least once a week for personal(36%) and professional(46%) purposes (Deloitte, July 2024).

Types of AI use

42% of Belgians who have used AI have done so for personal purposes, 22% for professional activities and 15% for educational activities (Deloitte, July 2024).

Content creation(21%), personalized communication and task automation(17% each) are the main uses of AI in the workplace (SD Worx, February 2025).

The most popular AI applications in the enterprise are text analysis(15.1%), automatic text or speech generation(12.7%) and AI-based robotic process automation(10.3%) (Acerta, February 2025).

Idea generation is the main use of AI for work and personal activities(43%) (Deloitte, July 2024).

General searches and information retrieval dominate personal use(41%) (Deloitte, July 2024).

Adoption gap (gender, age, etc.)

Men are more likely to regularly use AI at work(42%) than women(24%) (PwC Belgium, May 2025).

Men are more than twice as likely to use AI on a daily basis(19%) than women(9%) (PwC Belgium, May 2025).

Women are more likely to report never using AI tools (PwC Belgium, May 2025).

Younger people (under 34) use more generative AI tools regularly(49%) than 35-54 year-olds(28%) and over-55s(19%) (PwC Belgium, May 2025).

For daily use of generative AI tools, the under-34s are the most numerous(25%), compared with 9% for the 35-54 and over-55s (PwC Belgium, May 2025).

Men use AI at work more than women(29% vs. 19%) (SD Worx, February 2025).

The under-35s use AI more(36%) than the over-55s(12%) (SD Worx, February 2025).

Managers use AI more(37%) than executive or junior level employees(18%) (SD Worx, February 2025).

Employees working in international companies use AI more (one in three) than those in local companies (one in five) (SD Worx, February 2025).

AI use is higher in the private sector(28%) than in the public sector(19%) (SD Worx, February 2025).

Employees who work on computers all day seem to have a lesser inclination towards AI tools (e.g. 59% never use them for generic tools) (PwC Belgium, May 2025).

Knowledge of AI tools

• • ChatGPT is the most widely recognized generative AI tool in Belgium, cited by more than half of users (55%<) (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • Snapchat My AI(16%) and Microsoft Copilot(15%) are also commonly used (Deloitte, July 2024).

Trust and perception of AI

• Confidence levels

  • Only 35% of Belgians are willing to trust AI (rely on information provided) (KPMG, April 2025).
  • 56% of Belgians accept or approve the use of AI (KPMG, April 2025).
  • Confidence in the accuracy of AI results is lowest in Brussels(44%), compared with Wallonia(49%) and Flanders(51%) (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • There is a clear trust gap between men and women: 45% of men versus 37% of women trust AI for eligibility for social services; 44% of men versus 32% of women for financial assessments; 46% of men versus 28% of women for medical diagnoses (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • More than half (57%) of Belgian workers are confident in their unique skills, which cannot be replaced by AI (SD Worx, February 2025).
  • 72% of respondents say they are confident in the use of generative AI (men: 78%, women: 63%) (Deloitte, July 2024).

• Perception of risks and benefits

  • Belgians have mixed emotions about AI, being more worried than optimistic or excited (KPMG, April 2025).
  • 39% of Belgians believe the risks of AI outweigh the benefits, while 34% believe the benefits outweigh the risks (KPMG, April 2025).
  • 84% of Belgians are concerned about the potential negative results of AI (KPMG, April 2025).
  • Top concerns include loss of human interaction(89%), cybersecurity risks(88%) and misinformation(88%) (KPMG, April 2025).
  • 66% of Belgians are concerned about deepfakes, 65% about misinformation, 65% about data privacy and 63% about security risks (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • 81% of Belgians expect positive results from AI (KPMG, April 2025).

• Trust in organizations

  • National universities and research institutes are the most trusted to develop and use AI(88% moderate to high confidence), followed by healthcare institutions(80%) (KPMG, April 2025).
  • Governments have 60% confidence, while large technology companies and commercial organizations have 56% and 60% respectively (KPMG, April 2025).
  • Over 40% of Belgians have low confidence in commercial organizations and large technology companies to develop and use AI (KPMG, April 2025).

AI’s impact on jobs and skills

• Fear of job loss

  • Almost a quarter (23%) of companies expect to need fewer staff thanks to AI (Acerta, February 2025).
  • Almost a quarter (24%) of workers fear that AI will make much of their employment obsolete (SD Worx, February 2025).
  • Among regular AI users, over half(53%) believe that AI will profoundly change their work within three years (SD Worx, February 2025).
  • Two out of five men (41%) fear AI will replace their jobs, compared with one in three women (32%) (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • More than half (55%) of employees in the energy, resources and industry sectors believe that AI could replace their jobs entirely within the next two years (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • Younger workers are almost twice as worried about job loss due to AI than older groups (e.g. 55% of 16-24 year olds vs. 19% of 45-54 year olds) (Deloitte, July 2024).

• Benefits for the workplace

  • More than three-quarters (77%) of AI users believe the technology will make their work easier in the next two years (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • Nearly three-quarters (72%) believe AI will make their work more enjoyable and motivating (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • Significant improvements in efficiency, quality and innovation are the top three benefits perceived by Belgian employees using AI at work (Deloitte, July 2024; KPMG, April 2025).

• Skills and training

  • 46% of Belgians say they have limited knowledge of AI (KPMG, April 2025).
  • Only 39% of Belgians have received AI training (KPMG, April 2025).
  • 57% of Belgians believe they have the skills and knowledge to use AI tools appropriately (KPMG, April 2025).
  • 85% of Belgian employees using AI have received training from their employer (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • 76% are satisfied with the quality of training (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • Employees mainly see upskilling as a task for their employer(39%) or on their own initiative(38%) (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • Digital skills gaps and gender imbalances persist (European Commission, 2025).

AI regulation and policy

• Company policy

  • 40% of Belgian companies encourage the use of generative AI at work (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • 29% of companies have no formal policy regarding the use of AI (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • 18% of companies allow AI but don’t actively encourage it (Deloitte, July 2024).
  • Only 27% of Belgian employees say their organization has a policy or guidelines on the use of generative AI at work (KPMG, April 2025).
  • Nearly nine out of ten companies allow the use of AI, but seven out of ten workers feel the guidelines are insufficient (Acerta, February 2025).

Regulation and governance

• 72% of Belgians believe AI regulation is necessary (KPMG, April 2025).
• Only 34% of Belgians believe that current regulations are sufficient to guarantee the safe use of AI (KPMG, April 2025).
• 90% of Belgians are not aware of the laws, regulations or policies applicable to AI in Belgium (KPMG, April 2025).
• European AI legislation (“AI Act”), adopted in March 2024, will come fully into force in 2025 (FPS Economy). Two rules have already been in place since February 2, 2025 (SD Worx, February 2025).
• Belgians expect co-regulation with government oversight and international laws (KPMG, April 2025).
• 85% of Belgians want laws and actions to combat AI-generated misinformation (KPMG, April 2025).
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Other advanced digital technologies

• Big Data analysis

  • A quarter of Belgian SMEs use data analysis (FPS Economy, 2023 data).
  • 20% of companies with 2 to 9 employees and 65% (two out of three companies) of SMEs with over 50 employees analyze at least one data source (FPS Economy, 2023 data).

• Industrial and service robots

  • In 2022, robots were used very little by micro, small and medium-sized companies (FPS Economy, 2022 data).
  • 17.8% of medium-sized companies, 7.9% of small companies and 2.3% of micro-businesses use robots (FPS Economy, 2022 data).
  • The main reasons for using robots are product precision/quality(6.2% for small companies, 15.8% for medium-sized companies), workplace safety(5% for small companies, 12.6% for medium-sized companies) and high labor costs(3.6% for small companies, 10.1% for medium-sized companies) (FPS Economy, 2022 data).

Corporate investment in AI

• A third (31%) of Belgian companies have invested in AI at work by 2024, in line with the European average (SD Worx, May 2024).
• In comparison, Poland(42%) and Romania(40%) invest more, while Finland(25%) places less emphasis (SD Worx, May 2024).
• Only one in seven Belgian HR professionals (15%) are already seeing concrete results from AI in HR (SD Worx, February 2025).
• The top areas of AI investment for HR are recruitment (automated CV sorting, 13%), HR support(13%), learning and development(12%), performance management, mental wellness applications and compliance management(11% each) (SD Worx, February 2025).
• 24% of Belgian organizations are already using AI in their payroll processes (SD Worx, May 2024).

National and European context

• Belgium has a dynamic technological ecosystem, with rapid adoption of technologies by businesses (European Commission, 2025).
• It is a leader in cybersecurity and online public services (European Commission, 2025).
• 72% of Belgian citizens believe that the digitization of public and private services makes their lives easier (European Commission, 2025).
• Belgium’s recovery and resilience plan devotes 1.2 billion euros to achieving the objectives of the Digital Decade (European Commission, 2025).

These statistics demonstrate that Belgium is in the midst of an AI adoption phase at the professional level, with notable advances, but also persistent challenges in terms of trust, skills and regulatory framework.

2. Adoption and use of AI by workers and companies

AI adoption in Belgium is clearly on the rise, although it’s not yet universal.

Among workers :

• According to PwC Belgium (May 2025), only a third of Belgian workers who use a computer at least one hour a day regularly use generic AI applications like ChatGPT. Notably, 40% do not interact with these tools at all. However, the rate of regular use has jumped from 13% in 2024 to 34% in 2025. Daily use of generic AI tools concerns 15% of workers, while 19% use them at least once a week.
• Deloitte (October 2024) reports that almost two out of three Belgians (61%) are aware of generative AI tools, but one in three (36%) have never used them. For personal use, 25% of AI users employ them weekly, a figure that rises to 30% for professional tasks. ChatGPT is the most widely recognized tool (55% of users).
• SD Worx (June 2025) confirms this trend, indicating that almost a quarter (24%) of Belgian workers regularly use AI at work, an increase of 50% on 2024 (16%). Key uses include content creation (21%), personalized communication (17%), task automation (17%), data analysis (16%) and brainstorming (16%).

Corporate customers :

• Acerta Consult (February 2025) reveals that a quarter of Belgian companies (with more than 10 workers) use at least one AI application, marking an 80% increase in one year. Belgium stands out as third in Europe for the use of AI at work, behind Denmark and Sweden. AI adoption grows with company size (+10 points for small, +13 for medium, +18 for large). The service sector (27.4%) is the most advanced.
• SPF Economie’s 2023 survey shows that AI is present in 23% of medium-sized businesses, 10.6% of small businesses and 7.5% of micro-businesses. A third of SMEs use it for cybersecurity. The most frequent types of AI are written language analysis (59%), workflow automation and written or spoken language generation.

3. Factors influencing AI adoption

Several factors, such as gender, age, region and hierarchical level, influence AI adoption.

• Gender and Age: Men (42%) are twice as likely as women (24%) to regularly use AI at work (PwC). Daily use of generic AI tools is higher among under-34s (49%) compared to 35-54s (28%) and over-55s (19%). Deloitte observes that 46% of AI-aware men have used it for personal activities, compared with 36% of women. SD Worx also notes that men (29%) use AI at work more often than women (19%), and that the under-35s (36%) are more active than the over-55s (12%).
• Region and Sector: Brussels leads the way in AI adoption, with higher rates of awareness and use than Flanders and Wallonia. Flanders lags behind in general use of AI (38% are aware but not using it).
• Time spent on the computer: Paradoxically, employees who work all day on a computer seem less inclined to use AI tools (59% never use them).
• Management level: Senior (64%) and middle management (51%) use generative AI more often than non-managerial employees (38%).

4. Trust and concern

Despite growing adoption, trust in AI remains a major challenge in Belgium, and concerns abound.

Trust in AI: KPMG (April 2025) reveals that only 35% of Belgians are prepared to trust AI, compared with 46% globally. Belgians are less confident in AI’s ability to deliver a useful service or compliant results, but more confident about safety and the impact on human rights. Deloitte highlights a “Brussels paradox”: AI adoption is highest in Brussels, but confidence in its accuracy is lowest (44%). Confidence in AI is also lower among women than men for various applications (eligibility for social benefits, financial assessments, medical diagnoses).

Concerns and Risks: KPMG reports that Belgians are more concerned (64%) than optimistic (39%) or enthusiastic (32%) about AI. An overwhelming majority (84%) are concerned about the potential negative outcomes of AI (compared to 73% globally). Key concerns include the loss of human interaction (89%), cybersecurity risks (88%), misinformation (88%) and loss of skills/dependence (87%). Alarmingly, 40% of Belgians have personally observed or experienced negative AI results, and 36% do not regularly check the accuracy of AI results before using them at work. What’s more, 58% admit to inappropriate use of AI at work, and 63% avoid disclosing that they have used AI.

Impact on Employment: Acerta Consult reports that almost a quarter of companies (23%) expect to need fewer staff thanks to AI, and a third of employers think they will need workers with different skills. Deloitte notes that two in five men (41%) fear AI will replace their jobs, compared with one in three women (32%). SD Worx reveals that almost a quarter (24%) of workers fear that AI will make a large part of their job obsolete. However, 57% of Belgian workers are confident that their unique skills are not replaceable by AI.

5. Training, regulation and employer confidence

Establishing a regulatory framework and supporting training are essential for the responsible adoption of AI.

Legislation and Regulation: the FPS Economy points out that the European “AI Act”, adopted in March 2024, will come fully into force in 2025, establishing a legal framework. However, KPMG reports that only 34% of Belgians believe that current regulations are sufficient, and 90% are unaware of any laws or policies applicable to AI in Belgium. 85% would like to see laws to combat AI-generated misinformation. SD Worx points out that the AI Act has already put rules in place since February 2, 2025, with substantial fines (up to 35 million euros) from August 2, 2025 for non-compliance.

Organizational support and training: Deloitte reports that two out of five Belgians (40%) say their company encourages the use of generative AI. However, KPMG reports that only 46% of Belgians have limited knowledge of AI, and 39% have received AI training (compared to 61% globally). Only 49% of employees in AI-using organizations believe their organization actively supports responsible AI use and AI literacy training. Responsibility for developing for AI lies with the employer for 39% of Belgians, and on their own initiative for 38%. SD Worx finds that almost one in three Belgian companies (28%) will invest in AI at work by 2025, a figure below the European average (38%).

Trust in AI Developers: KPMG observes that universities and healthcare institutions are the most trusted to develop and use AI, while over 40% of Belgians have low trust in large technology companies and commercial organizations.

Conclusion

Statistics show that Belgium is well on track for AI adoption in Europe. However, significant challenges remain, including digital literacy, building trust, proactive risk management and clear policy implementation within companies.

To fully exploit the potential of AI, it will be crucial to continue investing in training, raise awareness of best practices and ensure appropriate regulation that is well understood by all players.