Portugal falls to lower third in global AI adoption rankings, analysis shows
Microsoft's latest AI diffusion report places Portugal in the mid-30s worldwide, trailing many European neighbours and even some non-European nations.
According to Microsoft’s quarterly Global AI Diffusion report, Portugal sits at 36th place in worldwide generative AI usage, positioned behind several Central European nations and even behind countries like Costa Rica and Vietnam. The United Arab Emirates and Singapore dominate the top spots, with Ireland and France also ahead of Portugal. The report highlights that Portugal’s adoption rate is below that of the United States and the average of the so-called North Global region.
It points to education as a key driver in lower-adopting regions, where learning-focused use is disproportionately high. In Portugal, schools are still debating whether to ban AI tools rather than teaching effective use. The analysis also underscores the economic potential of open-weight models, which now handle the majority of tokens on OpenRouter and can match top-tier closed models at a fraction of the cost, offering a strategic opportunity for Portuguese SMEs and universities.
