Overview
- UK adults now average 4.5 hours online per day, up 10 minutes year on year, with YouTube watched for 51 minutes daily and ChatGPT recording 1.8 billion UK visits in the first eight months of 2025.
- Children aged 8–14 spend almost three hours online daily, rising to about four hours for those aged 13–14, with time measured on phones, tablets and computers rather than games consoles.
- Around a fifth of children’s time on YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp occurs between 9pm and 5am, including 4–10% between 11pm and 5am depending on the platform.
- Ofcom reports high exposure to harmful material among 11–17s, with 58% seeing bullying content, 49% seeing hate, and 30% seeing content urging dangerous stunts, alongside concerns about addictive “brain rot” clips.
- Five percent of adults lack home internet access, rising to 20% of people aged 75 and over, and the government has launched 80 local support schemes backed by £11.7 million.