Digital 2027: The United Kingdom, from We Are Social, the socially-led creative agency, and Meltwater, a global leader in media, social and consumer intelligence, is a 167-page deep dive covering the entire UK digital ecosystem; from social media to ecommerce, mobile to smart devices, and more.
According to the report, over 68.5 million people are using the internet in the UK (equivalent to 97.8% of the population). 59 million are using social media and 90.8 million are using mobile phones. Those using connected media are spending an average of 35 hours and 43 minutes a week online.
WhatsApp crowned UK’s favourite platform
UK internet users use an average of 6.1 social platforms every month and are spending over 16 hours a week scrolling feeds. WhatsApp ranks as the nation’s favourite platform (31.0%), followed by Facebook (19.0%) and Instagram (13.9%). However, social users spend the most time on TikTok, averaging 1 hour and 53 minutes per day.
Social ad spend rises
Nearly half (48.0%) of UK internet users rely on social media to find brand and product information and more than a quarter (25.9%) now cite social networks as their primary channel when researching brands. This is reflected in an 18.2% increase in social media ad spend, hitting an estimated $16.9 billion USD (£13.5bn+).
AI is on the rise
More than two-thirds (68%) of UK internet users have used an AI tool in the past month. Despite such high adoption rates, only 4.9% pay for a subscription and just 25.2% say they feel comfortable using AI tools. The primary reasons active AI users use the tech include: for finding information (66.9%), for advice on problems (37.9%) and for personalised recommendations (27.3%).
Other key metrics from Digital 2027: The United Kingdom include:
- 39.1% of internet users clicked or tapped on a sponsored social media post in the past month.
- YouTube leads potential ad reach at 59.0 million (+6.3% y-o-y). Pinterest saw notable ad reach gains (+17.6% y-o-y to 18.2 million), whereas X (formerly Twitter) saw ad reach drop 19.8% y-o-y to 15.2 million.
- WhatsApp remains the UK’s most habit-forming app, opened an average of 18 times a day.
- 30.4% of internet users now turn to ChatGPT each month (up from 21.8% y-o-y) and 16.1% using Google Gemini.
Lucy Doubleday, UK Managing Director at We Are Social, said: “Brits are spending more than sixteen hours a week scrolling feeds, but how they discover and interact with brands is rapidly evolving. We’re seeing social cement its position as the first stop for product research, while AI is fundamentally reshaping everyday discovery. In an environment where people open WhatsApp dozens of times a day, spend nearly two hours daily on TikTok, and experiment with conversational search, brands can no longer just rely on generic campaigns. The brands that win will be the ones that understand these distinct platform behaviours and invest in creative work that delivers genuine value.”
The complete Digital 2027: The United Kingdom report, featuring detailed regional benchmarks, audience demographics, e-commerce trends, and channel-by-channel breakdowns, is available to view and download at https://wearesocial.com/uk/blog/2026/10/digital-2027/
Source: We Are Social
Digital 2027 in the UK: Brits spend over 16 Hours a week on social media and AI reshapes brand discovery added by newsroom on
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