51% Of UK Population Have Used The Net, Says Report

More than half the population has accessed the internet at some time, according to the latest quarterly figures from the January 2001 National Statistics Omnibus Survey. This is equivalent to 23 million adults across Britain and represents a 6% increase on the previous two quarters.

Just over one third of UK households – 8.6m – now have internet access in their homes, a figure which has increased almost fourfold since 1999. This includes new technologies such as digital TV, although people exclusively using technology other than a home PC to access the net account for just 2% of these households.

Young people continue to dominate net usage, with 16-24 year olds showing the most dynamic growth during the period. A total 85% of this age group have had experience of the medium, compared to 69% in July 2000 and two-thirds of all adults who have used the net are between 16 and 44 years old.

Male bias in web usage remains, with 57% of men having used it compared to 45% of women. Those living in professional households are also more likely to have accessed the net (78%) compared to those in living in homes headed by an unskilled worker (27%).

Two thirds of users go online to send emails (65%) and to research information (67%) while almost a third (30%) say they have used the net to buy goods or services.

Office of National Statistics: www.statistics.gov.uk