The United Arab Emirates and Singapore registered the highest generative artificial intelligence adoption rates worldwide in the second quarter of 2026, according to a report published by Microsoft's Institute for AI Economy and cited by Waradana. Globally, 18.8% of the working-age population used generative AI tools during the quarter.
The UAE maintained first place globally with a 73.3% usage rate among its working-age population. The report attributed this adoption to nationwide digital strategies, the expansion of smart government services, and investments in tech infrastructure and digital skills. Commonly identified use cases in the country include content creation, data analysis, document summarisation, and office task automation across both public and private sectors.
Singapore placed second with an adoption rate of 64.3%, supported by advanced infrastructure facilitating smart technology integration across business, finance, and education. Ireland followed in third place with 49.9%, France ranked fourth at 49.6%, and Norway ranked fifth at 49.4%.
Other countries featured in the broader adoption rankings include the United Kingdom, Spain, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Qatar, the United States, and China. The publication noted that the rankings reflect tool usage prevalence among working-age individuals rather than national investment levels or counts of tech enterprises.
Sources
- وردنا · 2026-10-12
