{"slug": "gastat-reports-33-1-establishments-used-ai", "title": "GASTAT reports 33.1% establishments used AI", "summary": "Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Statistics reported that 33.1% of the Kingdom's business establishments used AI technologies in 2025, up from 27.6% in 2024. The information and communications sector led adoption at 61.1%, followed by financial and insurance at 52.9% and education at 51%. The survey, aligned with UNCTAD standards, also found 51.3% of establishments use cloud computing and 98.1% have internet access.", "body_md": "# GASTAT reports 33.1% establishments used AI\n\nSaudi Arabia's General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) reports that 33.1% of the Kingdom's business establishments used AI technologies in 2025, a roughly 20% year-on-year increase from 27.6% in 2024. The information and communications sector led adoption at 61.1%, followed by financial and insurance at 52.9% and education at 51%. The survey also found 51.3% of establishments now use cloud computing services and 98.1% have internet access, situating AI within a broader digital transformation picture tracked under UNCTAD-aligned methodology.\n\n### Overview\n\nSaudi Arabia's General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) reports that 33.1% of the Kingdom's business establishments used AI technologies during 2025, up from 27.6% in 2024 - a roughly 20% relative increase year on year. The data comes from GASTAT's ICT Access and Usage Survey, conducted under methodology aligned with UNCTAD international standards to ensure cross-country comparability.\n\n### Sector Breakdown\n\nThe information and communications sector recorded the highest AI uptake at 61.1%, followed by financial and insurance activities at 52.9% and education at 51%. Transportation and storage came in at 44.4%, with professional activities at 43.9%. The nearly 30-percentage-point spread between the ICT sector and the national average highlights uneven AI maturity across the Saudi economy.\n\n### Broader Digital Adoption\n\nAI adoption sits within a wider digital transformation picture. According to GASTAT, 98.1% of establishments had internet access and 93.2% used e-government services. Cloud computing is now used by 51.3% of establishments - with cloud office software at 56.4% (up 5.4% from 2024) and cloud email at 55.3% (up 9.9%). IoT adoption for building security reached 71.4%. E-commerce activity also grew: 33.5% of establishments used the internet to sell or display goods, led by the financial and insurance sector at 48.5%.\n\n### Context\n\nSaudi Arabia's Vision 2030 initiative has made digital transformation a national priority, making this annual survey a key policy reference. For AI and data practitioners tracking Gulf-region adoption, the sector-level breakdown offers granularity rarely available at the national level across MENA markets. GASTAT stated the survey methodology is \"aligned with international standards set by the UN Conference on Trade and Development, ensuring data quality and international comparability.\"\n\n## Scoring Rationale\n\nWell-sourced national survey with sector-level granularity offering a concrete AI adoption baseline for Saudi Arabia, relevant to practitioners and policymakers tracking MENA/Gulf digital transformation. Scope is regional and the story is primarily a data release rather than a breakthrough event, warranting a solid mid-range score.\n\nPractice with real Ad Tech data\n\n90 SQL & Python problems · 15 industry datasets\n\n[Active Search Campaigns by BudgetEasy](/problems/sql/active-search-campaigns-by-budget)\n\n[High CPC Clicks & Poor Landing PagesMedium](/problems/sql/high-cpc-clicks-poor-landing-page)\n\n[Campaign ROAS by Attribution ModelHard](/problems/sql/campaign-roas-by-attribution-model)\n\n250 free problems · No credit card\n\n[See all Ad Tech problems](/problems/datasets/adtech)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/gastat-reports-33-1-establishments-used-ai", "canonical_source": "https://letsdatascience.com/news/gastat-reports-331-establishments-used-ai-e5226d0c", "published_at": "2026-06-14 15:43:44.069718+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-14 15:43:46.128716+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy", "ai-research"], "entities": ["General Authority for Statistics", "GASTAT", "UNCTAD", "Saudi Arabia"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/gastat-reports-33-1-establishments-used-ai", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/gastat-reports-33-1-establishments-used-ai.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/gastat-reports-33-1-establishments-used-ai.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/gastat-reports-33-1-establishments-used-ai.jsonld"}}