Ofcom – Online Nation, 2023

This report provides an overview of the online landscape in the UK in 2023, focusing on the usage and experiences of both children and adults. The data used in this report is representative of UK online adults aged 18+ and is provided by Ipsos iris, the UKOM-accredited online audience measurement currency. The report includes a snapshot of online use in May 2023, year-on-year trends since May 2022, and explores monthly trends with the introduction of new services. The report also explores the online use of children aged 15-17. In addition to the adult data, a pilot study was commissioned to passively measure the internet use of children aged 8-12. Passive measurement involved tracking devices used by children, including smartphones, tablets, and computers. The study was conducted among a small sample of 162 children and measured their online use over a period of four weeks. It should be noted that the pilot study may not be representative of all UK children aged 8-12. Based on the results of the pilot study, it was concluded that passively measuring children's online use is possible. The intention moving forward is to develop Children's online passive measurement by increasing the sample size, implementing waves for tracking, and adjusting the sample and weighting to be nationally representative.