Brits lead the world in mobile internet usage

Friday, December 14, 2012 - 15:47 by Graham Miller

A new report from industry regulator, Ofcom, has found that people in the UK use smartphones to access the internet more regularly and in larger numbers than in any other country on earth.

The study also looked at how average consumers carry out safe shopping online, concluding that we will have spent about 1,083 each on this activity, over the course of 2012.

This is a 14 per cent increase year on year, while compared with 2007 is up by 46 per cent, which shows that the UK has continued to expand its interest in e-commerce.

While the UK is in the top spot in terms of spending via safe shopping online, second place goes to Australia, where the average outlay in 2012 will be 842.

This means we have a somewhat unassailable lead at the top of the e-commerce tablet, at least for the time being.

There is no doubt that our love of mobile internet access and online shopping are linked, because being able to make purchases from a portable device, rather than having to sit at home, is quickly becoming a common activity.

Sixty per cent of UK consumers own a smartphone and this proportion is always on the increase. Meanwhile, a report from Experian, predicts that as a nation, we will spend 375 million hours on e-commerce sites this month alone, due largely to the Christmas rush.

Ofcom notes that mobile internet usage and the popularity of online shopping in the UK now easily outstrips Japan, which was the previous leader in the portable web access stakes.

There is now little doubt that the UK is home to the most tech-savvy group of consumers on the planet, as evidenced by our eagerness to use safe shopping online and m-commerce services.