Kantar Q3 2009: Online Usage

Over the past twelve months the UK internet audience has grown by over 2 million users, according to data released by research company Kantar. This is YOY growth of 6.5%.

An impressive 34.8 million people used the internet in Q3.

Despite take-up slowing a little, this is a rise of 4.3 million over two years.

Internet Users By Location

1.1 million people didn’t have access at home and were forced to log-on from elsewhere. However, 33.7 million users went online from the safety of their own home, while around a third of these also regularly gained access from their place of work. Both locations rose by 7% in the last 12 months. Using the internet from an academic location jumped by a whopping 17.1% year on year with 3.2 million users gaining access in public places.

Internet Users By Gender

The gender gap is finally being closed, with female users only few hundred thousand fewer than the men. With 17.7 and 17 million men and women now online respectively, a last minute lag in the growth of males users has leveled out the sexes. Men have only grown by 4.5% in the last twelve months while women have continued the momentum with a rise of 8.7% YOY.

Internet Users by Age

The more mature sections of the UK population continue to embrace the digital age with the biggest growth in users in these groups. Most age brackets are growing steadily with a 6% rise in the last year, while 35-44 years olds have slowed down significantly with a 1.9 % rise. Those 65 or older are paving the way with a massive 19.8% jump in the number of users over the last twelve months.

Internet Users by Social Grade

The figures show growth slowing among the higher social grades, traditionally early adopters to the online world. There has been a 3.1% growth among the ABs while C1 and C2’s have a YOY growth of around the 6% mark. And the online revolution continues among the lower classes with a huge 12.4% rise.