Older Brits are using the internet more following the growing popularity of tablets, according to new Ofcom research.
In its new report, called Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes, the regulator revealed that the number of over-65s accessing the web has risen by more than a quarter over the past year, driven by a threefold upturn in tablet usage to browse the internet.
As a result, overall web usage grew from 79 per cent of UK adults in 2012 to 83 per cent by the end of last year.
Among over-65s, 42 per cent went online in 2013, up by nine percentage points on 2012 – although unsurprisingly, adoption was still much higher in younger demographics. For instance, 98 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds have used the internet, while the figure stands at 91 per cent for those aged between 45 and 54.
While older people are more likely than ever to have been online, they are still spending far less time browsing the web than their younger counterparts.
Ofcom found that over-65s spend an average of nine hours and 12 minutes a week online, compared to 24 hours and 12 minutes among 16 to 24-year-olds.
Other key findings from the Ofcom report were that while nearly half (48%) of smartphone users had downloaded an app, two-thirds of the apps downloaded were not regularly used.
On average, smartphone owners have 23 apps installed, but only 10 are used regularly.
Comparing media, Ofcom found that TV continues to be the platform adults say they would miss most (42%) if it was taken away, however this varies by age.
For instance, people aged between 16-24 are more than three times more likely to miss their smartphone (47%) over TV (13%). But the majority of people aged 65 and over say they would miss watching TV the most (68%).