Kantar Q2 2011: Online Usage

The UK’s online population has grown by 1.4 million people in the last year, according to the latest data released by media research and insight company Kantar Media. The second quarter of 2011 saw the online population grow by nearly 4% year on year, totalling 38.4 million users.

Growth has been more dramatic when looked at over a two year period; since Q2 2009 the online audience has grown by 3.5 million, marking a 10% rise.

Internet Users by Location

According to Kantar Media’s Internet Monitor Report, there has been a significant rise in people accessing the internet from work; up 2.3 million YoY. This translates to an increase of 18% over this period. However, home is still by far the most popular place to go online, with 94% of all UK users logging in from familiar surroundings. There was a huge decrease in academic users YoY, down a massive 30%.

Internet Users by Age

Insight from Kantar Media reveals that users aged 35-44 make up the largest age bracket with 8.4 million people, increasing by 3.8% YoY. Younger users had a much stronger presence than their older counterparts with the younger half (users aged 15-44) representing 61% of the online population. Users aged 65+ made up the smallest group with 3.5 million users and showed a YoY increase of 3.6%.

Internet Users by Gender

The study shows that there were an equal amount of men and women online in Q2 with 19.2 million users each. Historically there has always been a slight bias towards men, with a 51:49 split in Q2 2010 and 2009.

Internet Users by Social Grade

Research from Kantar Media shows that growth among all the social grades increased at a very similar rate, around 3.8% YoY. The industry’s most desirable demographic, ABC1s, made up 60 % of all those online in the UK. The lowest social grade, DE, had previously seen some impressive growth, a 12% increase from Q2 09 to Q2 10, but has stabilised at 7.7 million users.

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