The UK consumersÂ’ love affair with online shopping continues, according to figures released by the ONS

The UK consumers’ love affair with online shopping continues, according to figures released by the ONS

In 2009, a higher percentage of UK adults bought or ordered goods and services over the internet in the previous 12 months than in any other European Union (EU) country, according to Eurostat figures highlighted in a chapter of the latest Social Trends report published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Two-thirds (66%) of those aged 16 to 74 had bought goods or services online in the UK, compared with 56% in Germany, 45% in France and an EU-27 average of just 37%.

True multichannel media consumption grows

The chapter also shows the rise in popularity of internet-based reading material for children. National Literacy Trust figures show that in England in 2007, websites were the second most popular source of reading material outside school for boys aged 9 to 14, at 58%. For girls in the same age group, emails were the second most common type of reading material, at 59%.

Social Trends also reports the rise in the take-up of digital television. In 2009, Ofcom reported that 89% of UK households had a digital television service, up from 16% in 2000. Digital terrestrial is the most popular form of digital television service, with just over 38% of households in 2009 using this service.