One in ten British households 'has no internet access'

Nearly three in 10 people aged 65 and older say they have never used a computer (iStock)

ONE in ten households in Britain do not have access to the internet, according to new figures.

And nearly three in 10 people aged 65 and older say they have never used a computer, according to a survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS Internet Access – Households and Individuals 2017 report also showed a huge gap between the use of social media by young people compared with the older generation.

Some 90% of British households have an internet connection, up from 61% a decade ago and 80% in 2012.

One in five (20%) of those who do not have internet access said they felt they did not have the skills to use it, while nearly two-thirds (64%) felt it was unnecessary because it was not useful or interesting.

But 8% said they felt the costs of getting online were too high.

The Government’s digital strategy, announced in March, intends to help adults who lack core online skills, while there have been persistent calls to improve broadband access for rural communities.

Scotland saw the biggest rate of growth in access to the world wide web, which is wired into 90% of households – almost doubling from 48% in more than a decade since comparable records began in 2006.

Access rates among households in the north-east of England and Wales trail on 82% and 84% respectively.

The numbers of over 65s using computers daily rose from 9% in 2006 to 51% in 2017 but some 28% said they still had never used one.

Sending and receiving emails remained the most common internet activity, at 82% of users, while the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter was third behind researching goods and services.

Just 27% of over 65s reported using social media, while it was the most popular activity among 16 to 24-year-olds (96%).

More people than ever before said they were accessing the web on mobile phones, handheld devices or portable computers, rising from 61% in 2013 to 78% this year.

And online shopping continues to grow over the last 10 years, with 77% of those surveyed saying they had bought goods or services over the internet in the last 12 months – up from 53% in 2008.

The ONS interviewed 2,567 individuals for the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.