UK digital usage continues to grow

The proportion of the UK population accessing digital services is still rising, with the amount using the internet set to hit 82 per cent this year.

This is according to UK Digital Users: The eMarketer Forecast for 2017, which shows the two furthest ends of the age spectrum are driving digital activity.

A 4.8 per cent rise in tablet usage is forecast for 2017, which will primarily be driven by those in the 12 to 17 and 55 and older age groups.

Similarly, a 5.4 per cent increase in smartphone adoption is set to come from mainly older users replacing basic feature phones with new smart models.

Forecast writer at eMarketer Corey McNair said overall growth is likely to be slow, due to the UK already having "one of the highest internet penetrations in the world".

"Any significant growth will come from first-time users, specifically children ages 11 and younger accessing video content regularly," he added.

Among the forecasts is an expected increase of around 20 per cent in the user bases of Snapchat and Instagram this year. However, eMarketer is less confident about Twitter's prospects, having revised growth down to 2.5 per cent.