Digital 2027: The latest digital and social data from the UK
Reports
We’ve just launched our latest report in the Global Digital Report series: Digital 2027: The United Kingdom. In collaboration with Meltwater, a global leader in media, social and consumer intelligence, it’s a 167 page deep dive that covers the entire UK digital ecosystem; from social media to ecommerce, mobile to smart devices, and more. Here are some of the highlights.
THE KEY NUMBERS
Over 68.5 million people are using the internet in the UK, which is equivalent to 97.8% of the population. 59 million are using social media and 90.8 million are using mobile phones. Those that are spending time online are doing so for an average of 35 hours and 43 minutes a week.
WhatsApp crowned UK’s favourite platform
The average internet user is visiting 6.1 social platforms every month and are spending over 16 hours a week scrolling feeds. WhatsApp ranks as the nation’s favourite platform (31.0%), followed by Facebook (19.0%) and Instagram (13.9%). However, social users spend the most time on TikTok, averaging 1 hour and 53 minutes per day.
Social ad spend rises
Nearly half (48.0%) of UK internet users rely on social media to find brand and product information and more than a quarter (25.9%) now cite social networks as their primary channel when researching brands. This is reflected in an 18.2% increase in social media ad spend, hitting an estimated $16.9 billion USD (£13.5bn+).
AI is on the rise
More than two-thirds (68%) of UK internet users have used an AI tool in the past month. Despite such high adoption rates, only 4.9% pay for a subscription and just 25.2% say they feel comfortable using AI tools. The primary reasons active AI users use the tech include: for finding information (66.9%), for advice on problems (37.9%) and for personalised recommendations (27.3%).
Other key metrics from Digital 2027: The United Kingdom include:
39.1% of internet users clicked or tapped on a sponsored social media post in the past month.
YouTube leads potential ad reach at 59.0 million (+6.3% y-o-y). Pinterest saw notable ad reach gains (+17.6% y-o-y to 18.2 million), whereas X (formerly Twitter) saw ad reach drop 19.8% y-o-y to 15.2 million.
WhatsApp remains the UK’s most habit-forming app, opened an average of 18 times a day.
30.4% of internet users now turn to ChatGPT each month (up from 21.8% y-o-y) and 16.1% using Google Gemini.
Lucy Doubleday, UK Managing Director at We Are Social, said: “For brands, social is no longer merely an awareness play at the top of the funnel. It is the digital high street where brand equity is built, communities reside, and purchase decisions are made. With almost thirty percent of digital marketing investment directed into social channels, brands must show up with genuine cultural value and creative fluency to earn people’s increasingly divided attention.”
To read the full report, along with the latest global data and other country-focused reports, clickhere.
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