The communications sector at a glance
Facts and statistics on the communications sector, taken from Ofcom's research publications.
This information is correct as of 31 May 2022.
Internet use
On average, adults in the UK spent almost
hours online each day in September 2021.
But alarmingly,
believe everything see online – that's around one in every twenty internet users.
of UK internet users aged 13+ feel that the benefits of being online outweigh the risks...
...but in the last four weeks,
of users have encountered at least one potential harm online.
Despite being more active users of social media, only
of women feel free to share their opinions and have a ‘voice’ online (compared to 48% of men).
of adult internet users want to see tech firms take responsibility for monitoring content on their sites and apps.
For more information on these statistics, please see our Online Nation 2022 report and our children’s and adults’ media literacy research reports.
TV, radio and other media
Adults in the UK spent a daily average of
minutes (or 5 hours and 40 minutes) watching TV and online video in 2020.
By April 2021, streaming service providers were offering UK viewers a total of
hours of content.
of the 30 most-watched titles on subscription services in the first quarter of 2021 were on Netflix.
of UK adults listen to live radio via a DAB set.
In the first quarter of 2021,
of adults claimed to have a smart speaker in their home.
of adults listen to a podcast on a weekly basis.
For more information on these statistics, please see our Media Nations 2021 report.
Broadband and mobile services
of UK homes can now get full fibre packages, which offer faster and more reliable internet.
A 4G mobile signal is expected to be available in around
of the UK's landmass by December 2022.
of UK homes can get Gigabit broadband – allowing you to download a HD movie in under a minute.
For more information on these statistics, please see our Connected Nations: Spring 2022 update.
Postal services
UK parcels were delivered in 2021.
of customers have experienced problems with deliveries in the last three months.
Disabled customers are almost
more likely to experience significant problems with parcel deliveries.
For more information on these statistics, please see our Annual Monitoring Report on the postal market.