Why does the United States rank low on AI adoption?

It does not, on every measure. The US is among the top handful of countries for AI usage intensity and AI readiness. It ranks 24th on the Stanford HAI / Microsoft population adoption rate (28.3%) because that metric measures the share of the whole population using generative AI, where smaller, wealthy, English-speaking or state-directed economies (UAE, Singapore) reach a higher share faster.

Does national wealth predict AI usage?

Strongly, but not perfectly. Anthropic found a 1% higher GDP per capita is associated with roughly a 0.7% higher AI Usage Index. Income explains most of the variation, but several countries use AI far more than their income predicts (Israel, Singapore, South Korea), and some wealthy economies use it less than expected (Luxembourg, much of continental Europe).

What is the difference between AI usage, adoption, and readiness?

Usage intensity (Anthropic AUI) is how concentrated actual Claude use is relative to a country’s workforce. Adoption rate (Stanford HAI / Microsoft) is the share of a population that uses generative AI at all. Readiness (IMF AI Preparedness Index) measures the infrastructure, skills, innovation and regulation that position a country to deploy AI. A country can score high on one and low on another.

Where does this country-level AI data come from?

Each column comes from a single primary source, stated with the year and what it measures: usage intensity from the Anthropic Economic Index (September 2025 release), adoption rates from the 2026 Stanford HAI AI Index drawing on the Microsoft AI Economy Institute, readiness from the IMF AI Preparedness Index, and GDP per capita from the World Bank. A value that could not be verified for a country is left blank, never estimated.

Why does the United States rank low on AI adoption?

It does not, on every measure. The US is among the top handful of countries for AI usage intensity and AI readiness. It ranks 24th on the Stanford HAI / Microsoft population adoption rate (28.3%) because that metric measures the share of the whole population using generative AI, where smaller, wealthy, English-speaking or state-directed economies (UAE, Singapore) reach a higher share faster.

Does national wealth predict AI usage?

Strongly, but not perfectly. Anthropic found a 1% higher GDP per capita is associated with roughly a 0.7% higher AI Usage Index. Income explains most of the variation, but several countries use AI far more than their income predicts (Israel, Singapore, South Korea), and some wealthy economies use it less than expected (Luxembourg, much of continental Europe).

What is the difference between AI usage, adoption, and readiness?

Usage intensity (Anthropic AUI) is how concentrated actual Claude use is relative to a country’s workforce. Adoption rate (Stanford HAI / Microsoft) is the share of a population that uses generative AI at all. Readiness (IMF AI Preparedness Index) measures the infrastructure, skills, innovation and regulation that position a country to deploy AI. A country can score high on one and low on another.

Where does this country-level AI data come from?

Each column comes from a single primary source, stated with the year and what it measures: usage intensity from the Anthropic Economic Index (September 2025 release), adoption rates from the 2026 Stanford HAI AI Index drawing on the Microsoft AI Economy Institute, readiness from the IMF AI Preparedness Index, and GDP per capita from the World Bank. A value that could not be verified for a country is left blank, never estimated.

Data· Updated June 2026

AI Usage by Country

Which nations actually use AI the most, and why. This page brings together three primary measures that are routinely conflated: usage intensity (how heavily a country uses Claude relative to its workforce), adoption rate (how much of a population uses generative AI at all), and readiness (how well a country is positioned to deploy it), each plotted against income. For the analysis behind the numbers, readthe economics of who uses AI most.

Which country uses AI the most?

It depends on what you measure. By Claude usage relative to workforce size (the Anthropic AI Usage Index, August 2025), Israel leads at 7.0×, then Singapore at 4.6× and Australia at 4.1×. By population-level generative-AI adoption rate (Stanford HAI / Microsoft, second half 2025), the United Arab Emirates leads at 64%, then Singapore at 60.9%. The United States ranks high on intensity (3.6×) but only 24th on adoption rate (28.3%).

7.0×

Israel's Claude usage intensity

Highest of any country (Anthropic, Aug 2025)

64%

UAE adoption rate

Highest population adoption (Stanford HAI, 2H 2025)

0.7%

AUI lift per 1% higher GDP/capita

Income-usage elasticity (Anthropic)

AI usage intensity: the top of the table

The Anthropic AI Usage Index divides a country's share of Claude.ai use by its share of the world's working-age population. A score of 1.0× is exactly proportional; above 1.0× means a country uses Claude more than its workforce size would predict.

AI usage intensity by country (Anthropic AI Usage Index, August 2025)
Item	Value
Israel	7.0×
Singapore	4.6×
Australia	4.1×
New Zealand	4.0×
South Korea	3.7×
United States	3.6×
Canada	2.9×
Switzerland	2.8×
Luxembourg	2.7×
United Kingdom	2.7×
Netherlands	2.6×
Denmark	2.3×

Anthropic AI Usage Index by country: share of Claude.ai usage relative to share of the global working-age population, August 2025.Source: Anthropic, Anthropic Economic Index (September 2025 release)

Wealth predicts usage, but does not fully explain it

Plotting usage intensity against income shows the relationship Anthropic quantified: richer countries use AI more. The interesting countries are the ones off the line. Israel and Singapore (highlighted) sit far above what their income predicts; several wealthy European economies sit below it.

AI usage intensity versus GDP per capita, by country
Item	GDP per capita (US$, 2024)	AI Usage Index (×)
Israel	$54k	7.0×
Singapore	$91k	4.6×
Australia	$65k	4.1×
New Zealand	$49k	4.0×
South Korea	$36k	3.7×
United States	$85k	3.6×
Canada	$54k	2.9×
Switzerland	$104k	2.8×
Luxembourg	$138k	2.7×
United Kingdom	$53k	2.7×
Netherlands	$68k	2.6×
Denmark	$71k	2.3×
Norway	$87k	2.3×
Ireland	$113k	2.3×
Sweden	$57k	2.2×
France	$46k	1.9×
Finland	$53k	1.9×
Belgium	$57k	1.9×
Japan	$32k	1.9×
Germany	$56k	1.8×
Austria	$58k	1.7×

AI usage intensity vs GDP per capita. Each point is a country; the vertical axis is the Anthropic AI Usage Index (Aug 2025), the horizontal axis is World Bank GDP per capita (2024).Source: Anthropic Economic Index (2025) and World Bank (2024)

The full table: four measures, one row per country

These columns measure different things and should not be read as one ranking. Usage intensity and adoption rate come from different providers and methodologies; readiness is a forward-looking index, not a usage figure. A dash means the source does not publish a value for that country.

Country	Usage index	Adoption %	IMF readiness	GDP/capita
Israel	7.00×	36.1%	0.72	$54,177
Singapore	4.57×	60.9%	0.80	$90,674
Australia	4.10×	36.9%	0.73	$64,604
New Zealand	4.05×	40.5%	0.75	$49,205
South Korea	3.73×	30.7%	0.73	$36,239
United States	3.62×	28.3%	0.77	$84,534
Canada	2.91×	35.0%	0.71	$54,340
Switzerland	2.81×	34.8%	0.76	$103,998
Luxembourg	2.74×	-	0.73	$137,782
United Kingdom	2.67×	38.9%	0.73	$53,246
Netherlands	2.56×	38.9%	0.77	$67,520
Denmark	2.31×	28.7%	0.78	$71,026
Norway	2.26×	46.4%	0.71	$86,785
Ireland	2.26×	44.6%	0.69	$112,895
Sweden	2.20×	33.3%	0.75	$57,117
France	1.94×	44.0%	0.70	$46,103
Finland	1.89×	27.3%	0.76	$53,150
Belgium	1.86×	36.0%	0.67	$56,615
Japan	1.86×	-	0.73	$32,487
Germany	1.84×	28.6%	0.75	$56,104
Austria	1.67×	31.4%	0.72	$58,269
United Arab Emirates	-	64.0%	0.63	$50,274
Spain	-	41.8%	0.65	$35,327
Italy	-	27.8%	0.62	$40,385
China	-	-	0.64	$13,303
India	-	-	0.49	$2,695

What each measure actually means

Usage intensity (Anthropic AI Usage Index). A country's share of Claude.ai usage divided by its share of the global working-age population. Above 1.0× means over-represented relative to workforce size. It is a usage-concentration proxy for one model, not a national adoption rate.
Adoption rate (Stanford HAI / Microsoft). The share of a country's population using generative AI, published for the top 30 economies. The underlying data is from the Microsoft AI Economy Institute.
Readiness (IMF AI Preparedness Index). A 0-to-1 index averaging digital infrastructure, human capital, innovation, and regulation. It measures how well-positioned a country is, not how much it currently uses AI.
GDP per capita (World Bank). Current US$, 2024, included so usage and adoption can be read against income.

How this data stays honest

Each column is read off a single primary source, stated with its year and definition. The four measures are kept separate because they are not interchangeable: a country can lead on usage intensity and trail on population adoption. Where a source does not publish a value for a country, the cell is blank rather than filled with an estimate. The Anthropic figures here are the September 2025 release, whose per-capita index is verifiable against the open dataset; Anthropic's later reports show the same countries at the top of the table.

For the per-token economics of the models behind this usage, see theAI model tracker and thecost-per-task calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Which country uses AI the most?: It depends on what you measure. By Claude usage relative to workforce size (the Anthropic AI Usage Index, August 2025), Israel leads at 7.0×, then Singapore at 4.6× and Australia at 4.1×. By population-level generative-AI adoption rate (Stanford HAI / Microsoft, second half 2025), the United Arab Emirates leads at 64%, then Singapore at 60.9%. The United States ranks high on intensity (3.6×) but only 24th on adoption rate (28.3%).
Why does the United States rank low on AI adoption?: It does not, on every measure. The US is among the top handful of countries for AI usage intensity and AI readiness. It ranks 24th on the Stanford HAI / Microsoft population adoption rate (28.3%) because that metric measures the share of the whole population using generative AI, where smaller, wealthy, English-speaking or state-directed economies (UAE, Singapore) reach a higher share faster.
Does national wealth predict AI usage?: Strongly, but not perfectly. Anthropic found a 1% higher GDP per capita is associated with roughly a 0.7% higher AI Usage Index. Income explains most of the variation, but several countries use AI far more than their income predicts (Israel, Singapore, South Korea), and some wealthy economies use it less than expected (Luxembourg, much of continental Europe).
What is the difference between AI usage, adoption, and readiness?: Usage intensity (Anthropic AUI) is how concentrated actual Claude use is relative to a country’s workforce. Adoption rate (Stanford HAI / Microsoft) is the share of a population that uses generative AI at all. Readiness (IMF AI Preparedness Index) measures the infrastructure, skills, innovation and regulation that position a country to deploy AI. A country can score high on one and low on another.
Where does this country-level AI data come from?: Each column comes from a single primary source, stated with the year and what it measures: usage intensity from the Anthropic Economic Index (September 2025 release), adoption rates from the 2026 Stanford HAI AI Index drawing on the Microsoft AI Economy Institute, readiness from the IMF AI Preparedness Index, and GDP per capita from the World Bank. A value that could not be verified for a country is left blank, never estimated.

Sources

Anthropic (2025). Anthropic Economic Index (September 2025 release). Data window Aug 4-11, 2025.https://huggingface.co/datasets/Anthropic/EconomicIndex
Stanford HAI (data: Microsoft AI Economy Institute) (2026).2026 AI Index Report, Chapter 4: Economy (Figure 4.3.12). Data window second half 2025.https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2026-ai-index-report/economy
International Monetary Fund (2024). AI Preparedness Index (AIPI). Reference year reference year 2023.https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/AI_PI@AIPI
World Bank (2024). GDP per capita (current US$), indicator NY.GDP.PCAP.CD.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD

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