Almost half ( 46%) of adults in Great Britain have watched video on-demand content from commercial services (such as Netflix, Amazon Prime or Now TV) this year, up from 29% in 2016, according to the latest internet access report. Video viewing on YouTube or similar platforms also increased, from 47% in 2016 to 62% in 2018.

Almost nine out of 10 ( 89%) British adults had used the internet at least weekly in the last three months, compared to 88% in 2017. The figure stood at 51% of the population in 2006, when the ONS internet access annual results were first published.

Additionally, 86% of adults said they use the internet daily, up from 35% in 2006.

Email is the most popular internet activity in 2018, with 84% saying they use the web for this purpose, followed by ‘finding information about goods or services’ ( 77%, up from 71% in 2017 ).

Internet banking has grown yearly in the past decade, from a third ( 35%) in 2008 to 69% in 2018, while more people are using online channels to seek health-related information ( 54%, compared to 24% in 2008 ). 

Mobile phones are the most popular means of accessing the web across all age groups ( 78% of adults) apart from those aged 65 and over, who cited tablets as their preferred device.  

Despite this, over a quarter ( 26%) of smartphone users surveyed said they do not have security software installed on their device, and 24% were unsure if they did. Additionally, 65% of smartphone users aged 16-24 had refused access to personal data when installing or using apps in the past 12 months, compared to under a third ( 31%) of those aged 65 and over. 

The Internet Access Survey results are derived from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) conducted by the ONS. The report’s estimates for 2018 refer to data collected in the January, February and April 2018 modules of the OPN.