The Aging Internet — 5 graphs that show the importance of designing for older generations

The recently published internet usage statistics by the UK Office for National Statistics shows some surprising insights about the demographics of the internet in the UK.

The growth in active online UK users is driven by 55+ year olds

In the past 3 years, the proportion of 55+ users has increased gradually from 29% in 2017 to 31% in 2019 according to the UK Ofcom.

UK online reach by age group 2017–2019

Social media has a lower penetration among 65+ year old users

65+ year old users spend relatively more of their internet time on emails, finding info on the internet, and internet banking compared to other age groups. The starkest difference is in social media activity where only 34% of 65+ use social media compared to 90% for users <45.

Stacked chart of online activity by age group over a 3 month period

65+ are becoming avid shoppers

There’s an overall increase in online shopping across all age ranges, but the highest relative growth is coming from 65+ where the increase in this age range went from 43% in…