OpenAI has published its first country-by-country data on how people use ChatGPT, marking a shift from AI as a question-answering tool to AI as a tool for getting work done. The data, released on OpenAI Signals, covers messages sent within ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro accounts—accounts generally managed by individuals rather than organizations. It draws on billions of individual messages and is intended to help policymakers and researchers understand how more than 1 billion people are using the platform.

The headline finding is that at work, users are more than twice as likely to use ChatGPT to complete a task or produce an output—such as editing, coding, or conducting an analysis—than they are outside work. Outside of work, usage remains more exploratory, with information-seeking and clarification still the dominant categories. This ‘doing versus asking’ gap is the clearest signal that ChatGPT is being integrated into professional workflows rather than used only for casual queries.

Geographically, the adoption gap between early adopters and the rest of the world is closing. In Q2 2026, per-capita usage grew faster in parts of Latin America, Oceania, and Africa than in other regions, with Peru, Uruguay, and Costa Rica improving the most in global rankings. North America and Europe continue to see rising adoption, but the Southern Hemisphere is catching up. The report notes that specific new capabilities often drive adoption spikes in particular countries.

Multimedia is the fastest-growing use case globally. Since the release of ChatGPT Images 2.0 in April 2026, the share of multimedia messages worldwide rose to 7.8%. While this still trails leading categories like practical guidance, writing, and information-seeking, it has climbed steadily through the year. In some Latin American countries, including Brazil and Colombia, more than one in ten messages to ChatGPT is now multimedia-related.

Age demographics also show change. Over the past year, the share of messages sent by users aged 35 and older increased in almost every country, and this group now accounts for a 5% higher share of messages than it did 12 months earlier. The increase was especially pronounced in Europe: France and Czechia saw the share of messages from users 35 and over grow by more than 10 percentage points. Almost three-quarters of European countries saw larger-than-average increases, while some Southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore, showed the opposite pattern. Overall, six of eight Southeast Asian countries still recorded modest increases.

The data update includes country-level rankings for per-capita adoption, which OpenAI refreshed for Q2 2026. The full dataset is available to download on OpenAI Signals, along with methodology notes. The underlying analysis is based on messages sent within individual-managed ChatGPT accounts, and age-related figures rely on users who self-reported their age. These boundaries are important when interpreting the results: the data does not include enterprise or organization-managed accounts, and self-reported age may introduce bias.