Italy lags in AI adoption as digital skills gap widens

Italy’s adoption of artificial intelligence significantly lags behind other major European economies, reflecting broader digital challenges in a country already struggling with low economic growth and demographic decline. The new data from Italy’s national statistics bureau highlights a digital divide that could further hamper Italy’s competitiveness, especially as the country faces a concerning brain drain of young, educated talent seeking opportunities abroad.

The big picture: Only 8% of Italian enterprises used artificial intelligence in 2024, substantially below other major European economies like Germany, where adoption reaches nearly 20%.

• This digital gap exists alongside Italy’s broadly insufficient digital literacy, with less than half of Italians possessing basic digital skills compared to the EU average of 55.5%.
• Italy’s government recently slashed its 2025 growth forecast to just 0.6%, creating a challenging economic environment for digital transformation.

Regional disparities: The digital skills gap widens significantly in Italy’s southern regions, where only 36.1% of residents have basic digital skills.

• This north-south divide reflects longstanding economic inequalities in the Mezzogiorno – comprising six southern mainland regions plus Sicily and Sardinia.

Brain drain concerns: Italy lost 21,000 highly educated young professionals to emigration in 2023, a 21.2% increase from the previous year.

• ISTAT reports that over the past decade, Italy has experienced a net loss of 97,000 qualified young workers aged 25-34.

Economic context: Italy’s modest first-quarter growth of 0.3% comes amid mounting uncertainty about international trade policies.

• Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government faces significant challenges in stimulating an economy that’s falling behind on digital transformation while losing its educated workforce.