According to official data, the adoption of artificial intelligence among businesses in Saudi Arabia, which is increased to 27.6 percent in 2024, which is a gradual increase in the adoption of advanced digital tools in the entire private sector of the Kingdom.
The General Authority for Statistics said in its Establishments’ ICT Access and Usage Statistics 2024 report that the information and communications sector registered the largest adoption of AI technologies, amounting to 52.8 percent, followed by the finance and insurance sector with 44.7 percent and the education sector with 42.1 percent.
The information highlights the increasing level of digital maturity of the private sector in the Kingdom, and some of the industry is the first to shift towards new technologies.
The professional services segment demonstrated an average high adoption rate of 39.2 percent, whereas other industries, including real estate with 28.2 percent, wholesale and retail trade with 25 percent, and manufacturing with 26 percent, were not equally interested in using AI tools.
However, other sectors, such as construction 25.8 percent, human health and social work 29.9 percent and arts, entertainment, and recreation 20.1 percent fell behind, demonstrating disparities in AI adoption throughout the economy.
Other industries with moderate adoption of AI technologies are transportation and storage, with 38.3 percent, and mining and quarrying, with 32.4 percent.
Therefore, other types of industries, including administrative and support services with 25.2 percent, and electricity and gas supply with 25.7 percent, had recorded lower rates of AI adoption than those of digital leaders.
The report further indicated that the percentage of establishments in Saudi Arabia with internet access has increased by 0.3 percentage points in 2024, and stood at 98 percent in the previous year. Social media usage by establishments was at 63 percent, with 76.3 percent using the internet to make electronic banking transactions.
Besides AI, cloud computing technologies were also being used in high numbers. Forty-six-point eight percent of the establishments indicated that they used cloud services, with the most of the uses being ready-made office applications at 53.5 percent, email services at 50.3 percent, and file storage at 41.1 percent.
Internet of Things technologies were also commonly used in constructing security at 68.4 percent, energy management at 36.5 percent, and maintenance at 21.1 percent.
GASTAT reported that the ICT Access and Usage Survey of the Establishments is conducted with regard to internationally aligned methods, and it adheres to the Statistical Business Process Guide and standards stated by the UN Conference on Trade and Development.
