UK average monthly data usage leaps to 1.9GB

As we become more and more dependent on apps and social media to conduct our everyday business, the average monthly data usage by UK mobile users continues to soar.

According to Ofcom, in 2016 people in the UK chewed their way through an average of 1.3GB of data every month.

Fast forward to 2017, that monthly average data usage leaps to 1.9GB a month.

It reveals that Youtube and other video on the move apps are having a huge impact in the amount of data the average person gets through every month.

More: Youtube chews through data 6 times faster than any other app

In December 2017, Ofcom released their Connected Nations report – an in-depth look into the coverage of broadband and mobile phone networks across the UK.

Designed to ensure that users around the country have access to good communications services, the research also revealed some interesting things about how our mobile browsing habits have changed over the past year.

Interestingly, this isn’t the only thing that Ofcom’s report has revealed about how we connect while on the move.

By surveying thousands of people, they were able to build up a clear picture of how we use our mobiles to interact – and it seems like we’re talking less and less.

The report shows that most SIM Only deals offer way more minutes than are needed by customers.

The average user makes just 192 minutes of calls every month – even though most packages, including this cheapest £3.99 a month offer includes 500 minutes.

As browsing habits change its likely we see a movement away from inclusive minutes and texts and towards more generous data packages?

Meanwhile, the bigger picture is of a society becoming increasingly voracious in its appetite for connectivity.

Amazingly, the total mobile data usage for the whole of the UK in 2017 was a staggering 155PB or ‘petabytes’.

And if you didn’t know, a petabyte equates to 1,000 terabytes – which in turn each represent more than 1,000 gigabytes.

So we’re talking about a lot of data – in fact, a full 50PB more than the UK consumed in 2016.