19 February 2008
Seven in ten Britons will have access to the internet by 2012, new research from eMarketer suggests.
This figure stood at 60.5% for 2007, or around 36.8 million people, the marketing firm said in its new UK Internet: Users and Usage report.
Particularly strong online retail uptake in the UK for this year is predicted by eMarketer - with around 40% of online sales in Western Europe to be made by Britons.
The amount that people spend on internet shopping also seems set to rise in years to come, from around £2,000 in 2008 to £2,650 in 2011.
"Britain has one of the most experienced and active online populations in the world," commented Karin von Abrams, eMarketer Senior Analyst and the report's author.
"Confidence in e-commerce is high - a long tradition of catalog and mail-order shopping has contributed to the practice of online buying in the UK."
eMarker defines internet access as someone who goes online at least once a month.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
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