The proportion of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) spending on AI services has quadrupled in the last two years, new data from Capital on Tap reveals. In the second quarter of 2026, 12.8% of SMEs spent money on AI companies' services, compared to 3.2% in the second quarter of 2024.
The mean average spend on AI per small business also rose significantly, from £93 to £288 over the same period. However, the median average spend for Q2 2026 was £75.60, indicating that a few large spenders influenced the mean.
Despite this growth, AI tools still constitute a small portion of overall business expenditure. They account for only 0.1% of the total value of card spending processed by Capital on Tap. Extrapolating this to the wider UK economy suggests total annual spending on AI services is approximately £4bn.