Online shopping makes up significant slice of UK internet valuation

Friday, October 29, 2010 - 15:24 by Simon Crisp

Search giant Google has claimed that the value of the internet to the UK economy is around £100 billion annually, of which almost two thirds can be attributed to the money generated by the millions of people who carry out safe shopping online every day.

Google commissioned a report into how the internet and associated services were managing to contribute to the national economy and it found that £60 billion of the total is attributable to online shopping and the various tools which UK consumers use to access the net and buy products, including broadband connections and mobile phones.

The rest of the total consists of various forms of government IT investment and even the goods and services which the UK is able to export abroad, all thanks to the wonders of the internet. Based on this valuation the internet is responsible for over seven per cent of the GDP (gross domestic product) here in the UK.

Google's Matt Brittin explained that the web is a key asset to the economy of the UK. Looking to the future he believes that it will be able to ensure continued growth and better times ahead.

While the web's current contribution to the UK's GDP is significant, the experts believe that it will grow by 10 per cent within the next five years. A quarter of a million UK residents work for online firms and earnings from exports made over the internet are almost three times the cost spent on importing.

Boston Consulting Group collated the data for Google's study and spokesperson, Paul Zwillenberg, explained that the UK economy is becoming increasingly reliant on the internet, with everything from travel to the fashion industry forging new advances, thanks to the growth of safe shopping online.