ONS 2017 Update – 4.8 Million UK Adults Have Never Used the Internet

The Office for National Statistics has published their latest annual 2017 Internet Access report, which reveals that 9% (4.8 million) of UK adults have never used the Internet and that’s down from 10.2% (5.3 million) last year. Sadly issues of age and disability remain key barriers.

At present almost all “adults” aged 16 to 34 years are recent internet users (99%), which falls slightly to 97% for those aged 35-54 and then 90% for those aged 55-64, 78% for people aged 65-74 and finally only 41% of adults aged 75+ were considered recent internet users (a big improvement from 2011 when only 19.9% of those aged 75+ were recent internet users).

Out of the 4.8 million adults who had never used the internet in 2017, just over half (2.6 million) were aged 75+. However not all of the new internet users from that 75+ age bracket continue to use it after they’ve given the service a try (they have the highest rate of lapsed internet use at 7%, up from 5% in 2016).

Internet use also fluctuates depending upon which region of the United Kingdom you hail from. As you’d expect the more urban regions come top and thus London remains the region with the highest proportion of recent internet users (93%), while Northern Ireland had the lowest proportion (84%); although N.Ireland also had the largest increase in recent use since 2011, reflecting a rise of 15%.

Gender also continues play a small role, with 90% of Men and 88% of Women being regarded as recent internet users (up from 89% and 86% in 2016) and that compares with 82% for men and 77% for women in 2011.

Sadly 22% of disabled adults have never used the internet, although this is down from 25% last year and 27.4% in 2015. Some extreme disabilities can of course make internet use either very difficult or nearly impossible.

As we always say, not everybody wants to use the internet and nobody should force the technology on to people who don’t want or need it, but equally support should always exist for those who wish to give it a try. Admittedly this philosophy will become increasing strained as the Government continues to extend its digital-by-default strategy.