In short
- 95% of UK adults had used the internet in the last three months, but only 46% of those aged 85 and over had (DSIT, 2025/26).
- Around 8 million UK adults (15%) can't do all eight basic digital tasks needed to get online (Lloyds Essential Digital Skills, 2025).
- 7% of households with fixed broadband found it difficult to afford in October 2025 (Ofcom).
- Only 8.6% of eligible households were on a broadband or mobile social tariff in June 2025 (Ofcom).
On this page
How many people in the UK are offline? The answer depends on which survey you ask and how it defines "offline". This page brings together the latest figures from Ofcom, the UK government, Lloyds Banking Group, Good Things Foundation and the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It's for charities, councils, funders, journalists and students who need reliable numbers for bids, reports and articles. Each table gives the figure, what it means, and its source and year. Read the notes near the end before you compare or combine figures.
Who is offline
Every survey finds a small but persistent group of adults who don't use the internet. Most of them are older.
| Figure | What it means | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| 95% of UK adults had used the internet in the last three months | Around 4% had never used the internet, and a further 1% had used it, but not in the last three months | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 |
| 6% of all adults do not have internet access at home | Two-thirds (66%) of this group are aged 75 or over, and 81% live in C2DE households | Ofcom, Adults' Media Use and Attitudes, 2026 (2025 data) |
| 95% of UK adults are online in 2025 | Up by 6.3 million people since 2016 | Lloyds Consumer Digital Index, 2025 |
| 3% (1.6 million) people are offline | The most recent Lloyds headcount. The UK government still uses it in its 2026 progress report | Lloyds Consumer Digital Index, 2024 |
| 2.2 million are offline | Good Things Foundation's own measure, based on its Indicators of Digital Inclusion. It also finds that only 1 in 3 adults are "comfortably online" | Good Things Foundation, Digital Nation, 2026 |
Essential digital skills
Being online isn't the same as being able to do what you need online. These figures measure skills in different ways, so cite the one that fits your point.
| Figure | What it means | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| 85% of UK adults have the Foundation Level | They can do all eight basic tasks needed to get online, such as connecting to Wi-Fi, on their own | Lloyds Essential Digital Skills, 2025 |
| c.8 million (15%) of UK adults don't have the Foundation Level | They can't complete all eight basic tasks | Lloyds Essential Digital Skills, 2025 |
| c.0.9 million (2%) of UK adults are "digitally disengaged" | They can't do any of the Foundation Level tasks by themselves | Lloyds Essential Digital Skills, 2025 |
| c.4.0 million (8%) of UK adults lack the Essential Digital Skills needed for everyday life | 92% have these "Life" skills | Lloyds Essential Digital Skills, 2025 |
| c.7.1 million (18%) of UK labour force adults don't have Essential Digital Skills for work | c.2.0 million (5%) don't have a single work skill | Lloyds Essential Digital Skills, 2025 |
| 76% of adults said they could complete most digital tasks without difficulty | Self-reported. A further 15% could do some tasks but struggled with harder ones | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 |
Affordability: data poverty and social tariffs
Social tariffs are cheaper broadband and mobile deals for people on certain benefits, such as Universal Credit. Ofcom's figures show that many households struggle with bills, but few eligible households use these tariffs.
| Figure | What it means | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| 7% of households with fixed broadband found it difficult to afford their service | Around 1.6 million (±400,000) UK households | Ofcom, Pricing and consumer engagement, 2026 (October 2025 data) |
| 5% of households with a mobile phone found it difficult to afford their service | About 1.5 million (±400,000) homes | Ofcom, Pricing and consumer engagement, 2026 (October 2025 data) |
| 24% of households had taken an "affordability action" | For example, cutting spending elsewhere, changing their package or missing a payment. Approximately 6.7 million (±700,000) households | Ofcom, Pricing and consumer engagement, 2026 (October 2025 data) |
| 532,000 customers were using a fixed or mobile broadband social tariff | Up 26,000 (5%) on a year earlier | Ofcom, Pricing and consumer engagement, 2026 (June 2025 data) |
| 8.6% of eligible households had taken up a social tariff | Down from 9.6% in June 2024. Ofcom counts the 6.2 million households on Universal Credit as eligible, so the true number eligible is higher | Ofcom, Pricing and consumer engagement, 2026 (June 2025 data) |
| 70% of eligible households were unaware of social tariffs | Similar to October 2024 (69%) | Ofcom, Pricing and consumer engagement, 2026 (October 2025 data) |
Ofcom's Communications Affordability Tracker, updated twice a year, may have more recent figures.
Devices
Most adults have a smartphone, but many rely on it alone. Older people are much more likely to have no device at all.
| Figure | What it means | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| Around 1.7 million households in the UK do not have a laptop, tablet or desktop | A government estimate: 6% of respondents to Ofcom's Technology Tracker, applied to 28.6 million UK households | DSIT, Digital Inclusion Action Plan: One Year On, 2026 (using Ofcom Technology Tracker 2025 and ONS 2024 data) |
| 96% of adults had a smartphone, laptop, tablet or desktop for personal use | 93% had a smartphone, 67% a laptop, 52% a tablet and 24% a desktop PC | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 |
| 12% of adults aged 65 or over had none of these devices | Compared with just 1% of adults aged 16 to 64 | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 |
| 20% of online adults rely solely on a smartphone to go online | Up from 12% in 2019. 24% of smartphone-only users feel disadvantaged, rising to 34% of those aged 16 to 24 | Ofcom, Adults' Media Use and Attitudes, 2026 (2025 data) |
Age, disability and income gaps
The same groups appear in survey after survey: older people, disabled people and people on low incomes.
| Figure | What it means | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| 78% of adults aged 75 to 84, and 46% of those aged 85 and over, had used the internet in the last three months | Compared with 95% of all adults | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 |
| 67% of adults aged 65 and over have the Foundation Level | Compared with 95% of 18 to 24 year olds. The figure is 54% for those aged 75 and over | Lloyds Essential Digital Skills, 2025 |
| 89.2% of disabled adults had used the internet in the last three months | Compared with 97.4% of adults without a disability | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 (data tables) |
| 59% of disabled adults said they could complete most digital tasks without difficulty | Compared with 82% of adults without a disability | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 |
| 86.4% of adults with a household income up to £10,399 had used the internet in the last three months | Compared with 99.4% of adults with a household income of £52,000 up to £74,999 | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 (data tables) |
| 76% of adults in the lowest income band (up to £13,499) have the Foundation Level | Compared with 99% of those with an income of £75,000 or more | Lloyds Essential Digital Skills, 2025 |
The four UK nations
The DSIT Public Engagement Survey uses the same questions across the UK, so its figures can be compared between nations.
| Nation | Used the internet in the last three months | Could complete most digital tasks without difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| England | 95.3% | 76.0% |
| Wales | 94.4% | 73.6% |
| Scotland | 94.1% | 76.0% |
| Northern Ireland | 95.7% | 75.4% |
Source: DSIT Public Engagement Survey 2025/26, data tables A4 and A14.
The devolved governments also publish their own figures. These use different questions, so don't compare them with the table above or with each other.
| Figure | What it means | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland: 91% of adults use the internet | For work or personal use. This falls to 77% of adults aged 60 and over | Scottish Government, Scottish Household Survey, 2023 |
| Scotland: 87% of households in the 20% most deprived areas had home internet access | Compared with 96% of households in the 20% least deprived areas | Scottish Government, Scottish Household Survey, 2023 |
| Wales: 96% of people said they use the internet | At home, work or elsewhere. Up from 93% in 2022-23 | Welsh Government, National Survey for Wales, 2024-25 |
| Northern Ireland: 16% of people aged 16 and over had no digital skills (249,000 people) | NISRA defines this as not having done any of a list of online tasks in the last 12 months. It rises to 41% of those aged 65 and over | NISRA, Digital Skills in Northern Ireland, 2024/25 |
| Gigabit-capable broadband is available to 88% of residential premises in England, 96% in Northern Ireland, 81% in Scotland and 81% in Wales | The UK figure is 87%. Around 44,000 UK premises can't get a decent broadband connection (at least 10 Mbit/s download and 1 Mbit/s upload) | Ofcom, Connected Nations 2025 (data from July 2025) |
AI awareness and confidence
Most people have heard of AI and over half use it, but confidence is lower, and use falls sharply with age.
| Figure | What it means | Source and year |
|---|---|---|
| 97% of adults were at least aware of AI | Asked of all adults aged 16 and over | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 |
| 59% of adults had used generative AI in the last three months | This falls to 8% of those aged 85 or over. It was 19% for people with no qualifications, compared with 75% for those with a degree | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 |
| 54% of adults say they use AI tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini | Up from 31% the year before | Ofcom, Adults' Media Use and Attitudes, 2026 (2025 data) |
| 79% of AI users aged 16 to 19 said they could at least use common AI tools efficiently | This falls to 19% of users aged 75 to 84. Based on generative AI users who answered online | DSIT Public Engagement Survey, 2025/26 |
| 28% of the public feel confident in their ability to use AI tools in daily life | Based on adults who had heard of AI. 21% of people in work felt confident using AI tools at work | DSIT and DCMS, AI Skills for Life and Work: General Public Survey (Ipsos, fieldwork February to March 2024) |
Using these figures well
These surveys measure different things in different ways. A few habits will keep your evidence accurate.
- Always give the source and year. Write "Ofcom, Adults' Media Use and Attitudes 2026", not "research shows". Where the data year differs from the publication year, say so.
- Check the definition. "Offline" can mean no home internet (Ofcom), not using the internet in the last three months (DSIT), or something else in another survey. "Skills" can mean being able to do a list of set tasks (Lloyds), how people rate themselves (DSIT), or which activities they've done (NISRA).
- Check who was asked. Some figures cover adults aged 16 and over, others 18 and over. Some count households, not people, and some are a share of internet users rather than all adults.
- Don't add up or subtract figures from different surveys. You can't add the 6% without home internet (Ofcom) to the 15% without basic skills (Lloyds) to get a total.
- Be careful with trends. Ofcom changed its survey method for its 2026 report and advises caution with year-on-year comparisons. DSIT's survey ran for the first time in 2025/26 and isn't directly comparable with the earlier DCMS Participation Survey.
- Don't rely on old ONS figures. The ONS stopped its "Internet users" bulletin in 2023. Its last figures cover 2020, and the ONS points users to Ofcom's Technology Tracker instead.
National figures are a strong start, but funders also want to see what the problem looks like where you work. If you're using these statistics in a funding bid, our guide to digital inclusion grants in the UK explains how to pair them with local evidence.
If you're planning digital skills or AI literacy work, you can find out about Mission Pointers' community programmes.
Sources
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, DSIT Public Engagement Survey 2025/2026, report and data tables (July 2026)
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Digital Inclusion Action Plan: One Year On (March 2026, updated August 2026)
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, AI Skills for Life and Work: General Public Survey Findings (January 2026)
- Ofcom, Adults' Media Use and Attitudes report 2026 (April 2026)
- Ofcom, Pricing and consumer engagement: trends in the UK communications sector (February 2026)
- Ofcom, Communications Affordability Tracker (updated May 2026)
- Ofcom, Connected Nations 2025, UK report (November 2025)
- Lloyds Banking Group, 2025 UK Consumer Digital Index (November 2025)
- Lloyds Banking Group, 2024 Consumer Digital Index (2024)
- Ipsos for Lloyds Banking Group, Lloyds Essential Digital Skills 2025 (October 2025)
- Good Things Foundation, Digital Nation 2026 (July 2026)
- Scottish Government, Scottish Household Survey 2023 results: internet (December 2024)
- Welsh Government, National Survey for Wales headline results: April 2024 to March 2025 (August 2025)
- Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Digital Skills Northern Ireland 2024-25 (January 2026)
- Office for National Statistics, Internet users, UK: 2020 (April 2021, discontinued May 2023)