The number of people in the UK using the internet has risen by nearly 2 million over the past 12 months and people aged 50+ are responsible for the majority of the increase.

Figures compiled by UKOM (the UK Online Management Company) show that over the last year, the total number of internet users has risen from 36.9 million to 38.8 million.  Men aged 50+ accounted for 38 per cent of the increase.

UKOM’s study points out that whilst older people might have been slower to catch on to the internet, but now more and more are going online and that website owners and businesses providing digital services would be remiss to ignore the huge impact of the maturing web audience.

The study found that the over-50s are utilising a wide range of websites including video, geneaology and community websites.

Alex Burmaster, a spokesman for UKOM, said:

“The internet is getting older in more ways than one.  Not only is the medium itself maturing but the audience is shifting towards older age groups.”

“There is still a perception that the net is youth-centric bit this is clearly not the reality”, he added.

Even so, the largest age group using the web are 35-49 year olds, who account for over 25 per cent of all UK internet users.