A Eurostat study released on Thursday, April 23, revealed that 40% of EU citizens do not have basic digital skills, with Romania ranking last.
Among EU countries, the share of people with basic or above-basic digital skills in 2025 was highest in the Netherlands (84%), Ireland (83%), Denmark, and Finland (both 81%). At the opposite pole is Romania, ranking last in the EU, with only 31.8% of citizens having basic digital skills.
The data also show that 93% of people in the EU used the internet at least once a week. The internet was mainly used to communicate with others through instant messaging (88% of internet users) and sending or receiving emails (87%). Also popular are phone or video calls, finding information about goods and services, and online banking, as well as social media.
“Technological change requires people and companies to acquire new skills and digital competencies. According to the EU objective, 80% of the population should have at least basic digital skills by 2030,” Eurostat announced in the 2026 edition of the digitalization study.
Data for Romania show that although 85.4% of Romanians are present on social networks, above the EU average and ranking second, only 49.3% (last place in the EU) use email for communication. Romania is also in last or second-to-last place in the EU when it comes to reading news and information online or searching for information about goods and services.
A closer analysis of online banking services shows that 74% of internet users used online banking services in 2025, compared to 56% in 2015. Among EU countries, online banking services are most used in Denmark (98%), Finland (97%), the Netherlands (96%), and Ireland (95%). In this regard as well, Romania ranks last, with only 33.3% of citizens using online banking services.
The same study shows that online purchases are popular as well, especially among people aged 16 to 24 (84%), compared to those aged 25 to 64 (81%). Meanwhile, more than half (55%) of people aged 65 to 74 made online purchases in 2025.
According to Eurostat, in 2025, 20% of businesses in the EU used AI, an increase compared with 13% in 2024. AI use was lowest in Romania, at just 5.2%.
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