UK adults spend more time online than those in other European countries, according to latest annual Ofcom study into UK online habits. The 2021 report shows that UK adults spent over 3.5 hours online a day each in 2020, more than 60 minutes longer than in France and Germany, and 30 minutes longer than in Spain.
The report also shows that Brits spent almost GBP 2.45 billion on, and in, mobile apps in 2020, with Tinder, Disney+, YouTube and Netflix top. They also spent almost GBP 113 billion on online shopping in 2020, up around 50 percent year-on-year. The online purchasing power of teenagers is also increasing, with this group now spending more money online (68%) than offline (32%) as of March 2021).
TikTok saw massive user growth in the UK during the pandemic, with 14 million adult visitors by March 2021, up from 3 million in September 2019. Despite 13 being the minimum user age for most social media platforms, 59 percent of UK children use social media by age 11, rising to 95 percent by age 15.
The report shows that Brits spent on average 1 hour 21 minutes a day watching online services such as Netflix and iPlayer on TV sets, up by 24 minutes from 2019; with UK internet users spending almost 4-times more time on smartphones (average of 2 hours 19 minutes a day) than on computers (37 minutes) in September 2020. People being at home during the pandemic has driven increases in online gaming, video calling and online health services during 2020. A total of 62 percent of adults, rising to 92 percent of 16-24 year olds, played games on an electronic device in 2020. Smartphones are the most commonly used device across all age groups, used by 39 percent of all UK adults for gaming.
Zoom has grown from a few hundred thousand UK users in the first two months of 2020 to over 13 million in April/May 2020, falling to 10.4 million users as of March 2021. Online platforms used mainly for work and education, such as Microsoft Teams, have grown by 5.3 million users year-on-year to 13.7 million in March 2021. The NHS online service was used by 22.5 million adults in March 2020 as the UK went into lockdown.
The majority (88%) of UK online adults use e-mail, with Google Mail the most popular e-mail service, used by 61 percent of the UK adult online population in 2020. Facebook-owned WhatsApp is the most popular messaging service, used by 75 percent of online over-15s during the spring lockdown; followed by Facebook Messenger (58%); and Instagram Direct Message (24%). At least one Facebook-owned service is used by 83 percent of online over-15s at least monthly, rising to 97 percent of 15-24 year olds.
Despite many people benefiting from online services during the pandemic, lockdown had a greater impact on the digitally-excluded. A total of 6 percent f UK households do not have internet access at home, and 14 percent of adults only go online infrequently. Older people are less likely to have internet access at home (18% of over-64s without internet access), as well as those in lower socio-economic homes (11%). More than half of UK children had a negative online experience in 2020, with time spent online increasing with age. Children aged 7-8 spent almost 3 hours a day online on average in September 2020, rising to almost 5 hours for 15-16 year olds. Most internet use by children is made up of watching video content and gaming. YouTube is used by almost 9 in 10 children of all age groups; and three quarters of 5-15 year olds played online games in 2020.
