A report released on Friday by the UK's Office for National Statistics finds that recent Internet use among women aged 75 and over has increased by 169% over the last five years.
"Age is a factor as to whether an adult has used the Internet," the report states. "Since the survey began in 2011, adults aged 75 years and over have consistently shown the lowest rates of Internet use." Yet this percentage has almost doubled over this time, from 19.9% in 2011 to 38.7% in 2016 - up more than five percentage points from 33% in 2015.
Furthermore, recent Internet use - meaning Internet use within the last three months, as opposed to having used the Internet ever - in the 65-74 age group has risen by 7.5% since 2015, and by 68.7% since 2011.
By comparison, 99.2% and 98.9% of adults aged 16-24 and 25-34 respectively have used the Internet, the report clarifies.
Starting and stopping
Yet while more and more older adults are trying the Internet for the first time, they are not necessarily continuing to use it, the report suggests.
The 75+ age group has the highest proportion of "lapsed" Internet users - those who last used the Internet more than three months ago - at 4.8%, the report finds.
Gender gap
In the oldest two age groups assessed for the report, men are more likely to use the Internet than women, it states, continuing that in 2016, 46.7% of men and 32.6% of women over 75 were recent Internet users, compared with 75.8% of men and 72.5% of women in the 65-74 age group.
Yet women's Internet use is increasing more rapidly in both groups, according to the report. Next to the five-year 169% increase in usage among women 75 and up, the largest increase in recent Internet use has been among women aged 65-74, at 80.7%.
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