PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
According to new figures from the Office for National Statistics, 60 per cent of adults in the UK accessed the Internet every day.
The Internet use is nearly double the 2006 estimate of 16.5 million. Additionally 1 million fewer Britons can count themselves part of the group that have never used the Internet while 31 million, or 62 per cent of UK adults, had ordered a product online in the last 12 months.
The ONS figures also revealed that the rate of Internet use decreased with decrease in income. The over 65, the widowed and those without formal qualifications were more likely to never have used the Internet.
Of those which said they did not have an Internet connection, the most common response was that they didn’t need it, at 39 per cent, followed by 21 per cent who said a lack of skills prevented them from having the Internet.
"Since 2006 we have seen a significant increase in the number of people using the Internet, with the number of adults accessing the Internet every day almost doubling to just over 30 million," said ONS representative Mark Williams before adding that the UK remains "some way off from being completely online."
The ONS survey found that social networking was a popular Internet activity in 2010 with 43 per cent of Internet users using social networking activities. The use of Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet was also on the rise with 2.7 million Britons, 7 per cent of the total Internet users, having used public wireless hotspots.
Image credit: Office of National Statistics
