The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have just published their Internet Access Quarterly Update 2012 Q4 (pdf).
It shows internet usage by adults reaching a new high for the year of 85.1% (adults defined as 16 years old +). This is an increase of 0.4% in the quarter and 1.6% on quarter 4 of 2011.
The breakdown by nation (in alphabetical order!) is as follows:
- England 88.7%
- Northern Ireland 78.7%
- Scotland 83.8%
- Wales 81.7%
The ONS headlines is 7.42 million adults (15%) had never used the Internet. What we found as worrying was that 100k (0.2%) apparently didn’t know whether they’d ever used the internet!
Top 10 nationwide regions
- 90.3% Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire
- 89.9% Inner London
- 89.0% Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire
- 88.1% Surrey, East & West Sussex
- 88.1% Outer London
- 87.9% Devon
- 87.7% Leicestershire, Rutland & Northamptonshire
- 87.5% Hampshire & Isle of Wight
- 87.2% Gloucestershire, Wiltshire & Bristol/Bath are (Hurrah!)
- 86.9% Eastern Scotland
Top region by country:
- England – 90.3% Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire
- Scotland – 86.9% Eastern Scotland
- Wales – 85.7% East Wales
- Northern Ireland – 73.7% Northern Ireland
We’ll leave you with a nice little graphic from the ONS