October 18, 2026
Generative AI is rapidly becoming an essential part of the daily lives of millions of people around the world. According to the “Global AI Diffusion” report issued by Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence Economics Institute on September 21, 2026, the percentage of use of these tools among individuals of working age (15-64 years) rose globally to 18.8% during the second quarter of 2026, compared to 17.8% in the first quarter, and 16.3% in the second half of 2025.
The report reveals a wide gap between developed and developing countries. The percentage of users in the countries of the Global North reached 28.8%, compared to 16.2% in the countries of the Global South, which reflects a noticeable disparity in access to digital tools and the ability to employ them.
In Lebanon, Microsoft data shows a significant increase in the use of artificial intelligence among the working-age population, exceeding the global average. The percentage rose from 24.8% in the first half of 2025 to 25.7% in the second half, then continued to rise to reach 27.3% in the first quarter of 2026. However, this widespread spread among individuals does not reflect a similar development in infrastructure or in the adoption of this technology within official institutions.
In terms of government readiness, Lebanon ranked 113th globally out of 195 countries, and 14th in the Middle East and North Africa region, recording 34.38 points out of 100 in the “Government Readiness Index for Artificial Intelligence for the year 2025” issued by the British “Oxford Insights” organization.
According to a report issued by the Economic Research Unit at the Lebanese Credit Bank on January 8, 2026, Lebanon’s points were distributed among axes that include policy development (42 points), infrastructure (39.62 points), and governance (39.38 points), while the lowest score was recorded in the axis of adopting artificial intelligence within the public sector, at only 18.65 points. At the international and regional levels, the United States topped the global ranking with 87.20 points, while Saudi Arabia ranked 15th globally as the first country in the region, followed by the UAE in 23rd place, then Egypt in 51st place.
Comparison between the indicators highlights a clear divergence between widespread individual employment (27.3% in the first quarter of 2026) and weak institutional readiness (18.65 points in the public sector). Despite the different nature of measurement between rates of individual use and readiness of government policies, the data confirm that the main challenge in Lebanon lies in developing infrastructure, digital skills, and public policies to effectively integrate this technology into the economy and official services, in addition to the need to provide detailed local data on the nature of the use of artificial intelligence and its sectoral and age distribution.
