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UK adults are now spending more than four and a half hours online each day, a record driven by rising use of artificial intelligence and an ever more mobile-first way of living.
The finding, from Ofcom’s Online Nation 2025 report, shows how quickly generative AI has shifted from novelty to everyday utility – and how sharply online habits are diverging across age groups.
Ofcom says the average adult spends 4 hours and 43 minutes a day connected to the internet, up ten minutes
on last year. Behind that small rise is a deeper change in how time is spent and how people search, learn and communicate online.
AI now sits at the centre of daily digital life. ChatGPT recorded 1.8 billion visits from UK users in the first eight months of 2025, up from 368 million in the same period of 2024. Around 30% of Google searches in the UK surface AI-generated overviews, and 53% of adults say they encounter these summaries frequently.
Yet trust of the internet as a whole has not kept pace. Despite heavier use public confidence remains stuck at 2023 levels. Only 33% of adults believe the internet is good for society, down from 40% a year ago.
Nearly 800,000 children aged three to five are now active on social platforms, despite minimum age rules. Ofcom says 37% of parents in this group report their children using at least one social app, up from 29% in 2024. One in five of these young users accesses platforms without direct supervision.
For children aged 8–14, YouTube and Snapchat dominate, accounting for about half of total online time. They spend an average of 48 minutes a day on YouTube and 45 minutes on Snapchat. Night-time use is widespread, with 15% to 24% of activity on major apps taking place between 9pm and 5am.
As the Online Safety Act rolls out, the report highlights mixed levels of digital literacy. Adults aged 16–24 are the most successful at spotting fake social profiles, with 86% identifying inauthentic accounts. Only 73% of over-65s do the same. But when faced with email scams the pattern reverses: 70% of 25–34-year-olds respond appropriately to test messages, compared with 92% of over-65s.
Age checks for adult content are already reshaping traffic. After strict verification rules took effect in July 2025, visits to major pornography sites fell by 1.5 million in August. Ofcom notes a rise in VPN use, suggesting determined users are shifting to workarounds.
Half of all time spent online in the UK now flows through services owned by Alphabet and Meta. YouTube reaches 94% of online adults, while WhatsApp is used by 90%. This dominance sits alongside deep generational splits in media habits. Adults aged 16–24 devote just 19% of viewing time to traditional broadcaster content, compared with 90% for those aged 75 and over.
Network capacity continues to improve. Full-fibre broadband is available to 79% of homes in England, up ten points on 2024.
