Who Pays for AI? CAGE: Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy University of Warwick Economic and Social Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation
CAGE: Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy University of Warwick Economic and Social Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation

Release 2026-07 · data to July 2026

One in 20 adults now pays for an AI assistant

We track who pays for ChatGPT, Claude and other AI tools in de-identified records from 14 million UK bank and card accounts. We publish a new release every month. Supported by the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE), funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Exhibit 1 of 7

5.1% of adults paid for an AI assistant in June 2026, up from 2.3% a year earlier

Notes: Paid AI users per 1,000 UK adults, by month. The best estimate counts direct payments to AI providers plus estimated subscriptions billed through the Apple and Google app stores. The shaded band is its 95% interval. Weighted to represent UK adults aged 18 and over.
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MonthBest estimate95% interval
Jul 202652.039.9–57.4
Jun 202650.638.0–55.6
May 202648.236.1–52.9
Apr 202645.034.2–49.8
Mar 202643.733.0–48.4
Feb 202639.530.6–43.5
Jan 202636.428.7–40.1
Dec 202532.925.7–36.3
Nov 202530.623.9–33.9
Oct 202530.724.8–33.8
Sep 202529.423.0–32.6
Aug 202528.021.9–31.3
Jul 202525.820.1–28.8
Jun 202523.118.6–26.1
May 202520.916.4–23.6
Apr 202518.514.0–21.2
Mar 202516.011.4–18.7
Feb 202514.410.4–17.0
Jan 202514.29.6–17.3
Dec 202413.19.2–15.9
Nov 202411.48.6–14.1
Oct 202411.18.1–13.7
Sep 202410.27.3–12.8
Aug 20249.36.8–11.8
Jul 20249.36.3–11.8
Jun 20248.76.1–11.1
May 20248.26.2–10.3
Apr 20248.25.8–10.4
Mar 20248.76.6–10.7
Feb 20246.85.2–8.8
Jan 20246.75.0–8.6
Dec 20236.24.4–7.8
Nov 20234.74.0–5.9
Oct 20234.53.7–5.9
Sep 20233.93.4–4.6
Aug 20233.63.2–4.5
Jul 20233.22.8–4.1
Jun 20233.02.6–4.1
May 20233.12.8–4.3
Apr 20232.62.4–2.8
Mar 20231.81.7–2.0
Feb 20230.60.5–0.7
Jan 20230.00.0–0.1
Dec 20220.00.0–0.1
Nov 20220.00.0–0.0
Oct 20220.00.0–0.0
Sep 20220.00.0–0.1
Aug 20220.10.0–0.1

Source: Datta, Lambert and Schneider (2026), data pack 2026-07.

NextSpending by provider

Exhibit 2 of 7

Claude's share of AI subscription spending rose from 7% in December 2025 to 29% in July 2026

Notes: Share of AI subscription spending from direct payments to each provider, by month. We exclude app store subscriptions because bank records do not name the product. We also exclude accounts at card issuers whose privacy filters hide the Claude name, and re-weight the remaining accounts to represent UK adults. Total spending on AI products in July 2026, including estimated app store subscriptions, was £1,600 per 1,000 adults, or £1.07 billion a year at that rate across UK adults.
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MonthChatGPTClaudeGeminiOther
Jul 202652.529.45.113.0
Jun 202652.827.65.314.2
May 202656.822.75.115.4
Apr 202658.821.35.414.5
Mar 202665.115.95.213.8
Feb 202670.010.35.714.0
Jan 202672.08.15.914.0
Dec 202573.57.45.813.3
Nov 202574.06.95.413.7
Oct 202574.17.25.413.2
Sep 202575.86.55.112.6
Aug 202576.85.85.012.4
Jul 202576.06.14.713.2
Jun 202576.45.74.113.8
May 202577.55.13.813.6
Apr 202576.25.53.714.5
Mar 202574.55.63.916.0
Feb 202573.45.74.516.4
Jan 202573.56.14.516.0
Dec 202471.85.74.118.4
Nov 202472.15.44.418.1
Oct 202470.65.44.619.3
Sep 202471.14.64.419.9
Aug 202471.14.54.320.2
Jul 202471.33.83.321.6
Jun 202471.12.72.423.8
May 202472.32.42.123.2
Apr 202471.92.90.724.6
Mar 202472.94.0
Feb 202475.81.8
Jan 202475.32.0

Source: Datta, Lambert and Schneider (2026), data pack 2026-07.

PreviousPaid AI users NextBy age

Exhibit 3 of 7

Adults aged 20 to 29 are 5.9 times as likely as adults aged 60 and over to have paid for AI, and 4.8 times after accounting for income, sex and region

Notes: Share of adults in each age band who have paid for AI at least once up to July 2026, among accounts in use in June 2026. Best estimate, including estimated app store subscriptions, weighted to represent UK adults. The table also gives rates adjusted for income band, sex and local authority.
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GroupEver paid for AI (%)Adjusted (%)
20 to 2917.918.3
30 to 3917.516.9
40 to 4914.113.3
50 to 598.17.9
60 and over3.03.8

Source: Datta, Lambert and Schneider (2026), data pack 2026-07.

PreviousSpending by provider NextMen and women

Exhibit 4 of 7

In July 2026, men were 28% more likely than women to pay for an AI assistant

Notes: Paid AI users per 1,000 adults for men and women, by month. Best estimate, weighted to represent UK adults. Excludes accounts without a recorded sex.
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MonthMenWomen
Jul 202662.248.6
Jun 202661.046.6
May 202658.044.4
Apr 202654.141.0
Mar 202652.040.6
Feb 202647.036.9
Jan 202643.533.8
Dec 202539.430.3
Nov 202537.227.9
Oct 202537.528.0
Sep 202535.827.1
Aug 202534.525.3
Jul 202531.923.2
Jun 202528.820.6
May 202526.218.2
Apr 202523.516.1
Mar 202521.013.2
Feb 202519.211.8
Jan 202519.111.4
Dec 202418.110.1
Nov 202416.58.1
Oct 202415.98.1
Sep 202414.97.4
Aug 202413.86.6
Jul 202413.36.9
Jun 202412.76.2
May 202412.85.4
Apr 202412.55.8
Mar 202413.55.7
Feb 202410.84.3
Jan 202410.54.7
Dec 20239.74.3
Nov 20238.22.5
Oct 20237.82.6
Sep 20236.92.0
Aug 20236.51.8
Jul 20236.21.4
Jun 20235.91.2
May 20236.11.4
Apr 20235.20.9
Mar 20233.80.6
Feb 20231.20.2
Jan 20230.1
Dec 20220.1
Sep 20220.1
Aug 20220.1

Source: Datta, Lambert and Schneider (2026), data pack 2026-07.

PreviousBy age NextBy income

Exhibit 5 of 7

Adults with a monthly income over £4,000 are 88% more likely than those under £1,500 to have paid for AI

Notes: Share of adults in each monthly income band who have paid for AI at least once up to July 2026, among accounts in use in June 2026. We use the income band on record before November 2022 and exclude accounts without one. Best estimate, including estimated app store subscriptions, weighted to represent UK adults. The table also gives rates adjusted for age, sex and region.
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GroupEver paid for AI (%)Adjusted (%)
Under £1,50010.011.1
£1,500 to £2,00011.610.6
£2,000 to £2,50014.913.4
£2,500 to £3,00015.614.4
£3,000 to £4,00017.716.8
Over £4,00018.818.8

Source: Datta, Lambert and Schneider (2026), data pack 2026-07.

PreviousMen and women NextBy occupation

Exhibit 6 of 7

Paid AI adoption varies twelvefold across occupations

Notes: Share of workers in each occupation who make direct payments for an AI assistant, June 2026. We identify occupations from payments to professional bodies, regulators and trade unions, and from employer records. We exclude accounts at card issuers that hide the Claude name and re-weight the rest. We show only occupations with enough accounts to publish. Plum bars are above the benchmark marked by the dashed line; green bars are below it.
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OccupationShare paying for an AI assistant (%)
IT professionals20.3
University & college lecturers16.0
Finance & insurance professionals15.8
Project & procurement managers13.8
Marketing & PR professionals12.8
Writers, artists & producers9.7
Surveyors & town planners8.2
Postal & telecoms workers7.7
Chartered engineers7.5
School teachers7.5
Security officers7.0
Medical doctors7.0
Pharmacists6.8
Psychotherapists & counsellors6.8
Musicians6.7
Human resources professionals6.5
Fitness instructors6.1
Actors & stage performers5.8
Scientists & R&D engineers4.9
Banking staff4.9
Taxi & delivery drivers4.8
Manufacturing & industrial staff4.7
Allied health professionals3.8
Natural & social scientists3.6
Social workers3.4
Accountants & auditors3.4
Civil servants3.3
Veterinarians3.1
Dentists & dental nurses3.1
Construction workers2.9
Electricians2.9
Firefighters2.5
Nurses & midwives2.5
Social care workers1.7
All open-banking accounts3.6

Source: Datta, Lambert and Schneider (2026), data pack 2026-07.

PreviousBy income NextMap by region

Exhibit 7 of 7

London leads the UK in paid AI adoption

Notes: Paid AI users per 1,000 adults by UK nation and region, June 2026. Darker shading means more paid AI users per 1,000 adults. The bars show the same numbers, ranked. A box shows Shetland. Best estimate, weighted to represent UK adults. The dashed line marks the rate for all UK adults.
Show the table
GroupPaid AI users per 1,000 adults
London78.5
South East53.5
East of England50.0
North West48.2
South West45.6
Northern Ireland45.5
Scotland44.4
West Midlands44.1
Wales43.5
East Midlands43.1
Yorkshire and The Humber42.0
North East37.6
All adults50.6

Source: Datta, Lambert and Schneider (2026), data pack 2026-07.

Map boundaries: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025.

PreviousBy occupation

The paper

Who Pays for AI? documents how fast paid AI is spreading, how adoption differs by age, gender, earnings, occupation and place, and how consumers split their spending between ChatGPT, Claude and other tools.

Read the abstract and download the paper

How we find AI payments

Every subscription leaves a line on a bank statement. We match direct payments to a registry of more than 200 AI products using the statement text, the exact price and the product's launch date. Subscriptions billed through the Apple and Google app stores hide the product name, so we estimate them from recurring charges at AI prices. We then weight the accounts to represent UK adults.

Read the method

DateDescription£
03 JUL TESCO STORES 2041 -23.45
03 JUL OPENAI *CHATGPT SUBSCR -20.00
04 JUL TFL TRAVEL CH -8.10
05 JUL CLAUDE.AI SUBSCRIPTION -18.00
06 JUL NETFLIX.COM -5.99
08 JUL APPLE.COM/BILL -19.99
09 JUL PRET A MANGER -6.75
11 JUL APPLE.COM/BILL -2.99
  • Direct payment to an AI provider
  • App store charge at an AI price, estimated

Illustration, not real records. Highlighted lines are direct payments for AI. Hatched lines are app store charges at an AI price, which we estimate rather than observe.

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Download the national series and the breakdowns by age, gender, income and region as a spreadsheet and CSV files. The data pack is free. Enter your email address and, on your first download, tell us how you plan to use the data.