Our Digital Nation

The latest update of our Digital Nation infographic was launched in July 2025. It brings together recent data on digital exclusion and the impact of digital inclusion support from a range of sources, including Lloyds’ UK Consumer Digital Index (2024), Ofcom’s Affordability and Technology Trackers, survey data from Age UK, and Good Things Foundation’s internal monitoring and evaluation work, among others. 

Please email our Research, Data & Insights team at research@goodthingsfoundation.org to access any of our previous Digital Nation reports from 2016-2024.

Our Digital Nation accessibility description

Digital Nation 2025 is a picture with statistics about digital inequalities in the UK. The picture shows a river between two banks to convey the digital divide, with images of people, buildings and digital technology arranged around the key statistics. The left bank captures the scale of digital exclusion, how people are facing exclusion from online services, skills and access, who is most likely to be affected, and what the public think. The right bank captures the benefits of receiving digital inclusion support for individuals and for the wider economy and environment.  

Four signposts on the left bank of the river, pointing towards the right bank, depict the key aspects of support people need to cross the digital divide: access, skills, confidence and local delivery. There are also three bridges crossing the river, representing the digital inclusion services delivered by Good Things Foundation with strategic and community partners: National Databank, National Device Bank and the National Digital Inclusion Network, including Learn My Way platform.

Good Things Foundation is the UK’s leading digital inclusion charity, working in partnership across the UK to Fix the Digital Divide for Good. Each year, we collate statistics from national datasets, public polling, and authoritative analysis to convey key facts about digital exclusion and inclusion in the UK. The full set of sources is provided below. 

Scale of the Digital Divide

These statistics are presented in signposts on the horizon of the left bank:

• 3.7m families are below the minimum digital living standard
• 7.9m lack basic digital skills
• 1.9m households struggle to afford their mobile contract
• 21m adults can’t complete the essential digital tasks for work
• 1.6m adults don’t have a smartphone, tablet or laptop

Our Changing Digital World

The following statistics are displayed within the left bank, alongside illustrations of people and buildings that represent the three themes of services, skills and access:

• 33% of those offline say it’s difficult to use council and government services
• 31% of UK adults don’t access health services online
• 29% of those offline find it difficult to engage with financial services
• 29% of older people feel left behind by services moving online
• 53% of companies lack essential AI skills
• 52% of adults lack basic work digital skills
• 30% unaware of local access points for device access or internet connection
• 10% of eligible households signed up for social tariff

People Left Behind

These statistics are also on the left bank, with illustrated characters to represent some of the communities affected by digital exclusion:

• 69% of those with no basic skills have a disability or impairment
• 47% of those with no basic skills have no formal qualifications
• 77% of those with no basic skills are over 65

What the Public Think

At the bottom of the left bank, a group of illustrated characters hold placards displaying the following statistics:

• 92% think most ESSENTIAL SERVICES require internet access
• 87% think there should be LOCAL SUPPORT for people who need help using online services
• 61% believe that there is NOT ENOUGH SUPPORT for people who cannot get online

Digital Inclusion Support 

The following statistics are on the right bank, along with illustrations of people, devices and buildings:

• 7000+ community access points ‘The National Digital Inclusion Network’
• 64k devices collected to date
• CO2 saved equivalent to 537k trees

Digital Inclusion Benefits, as a Result of Being Supported

The following statistics are also on the right bank. Some characters on the right bank have speech bubbles, describing further benefits to individuals:

• Improving digital skills for life: £13.7 billion benefit to the economy
• Improving digital skills for work: £23 billion boost to the economy
• I’m happier. 83% say the internet helps them connect with friends and family
• I’m more employable. 73% have better opportunities for learning or employment
• I’m healthier. 74% can use online tools to help them manage their health
• I’m better off. People with high digital engagement save £1,100 more a year

Digital Nation sharing and citation

Please use and share this free resource, crediting Good Things Foundation and linking to our webpage so others can also access the full list of sources. Recommended citation:

Digital Nation 2025, Good Things Foundation.
Sources at: www.goodthingsfoundation.org/policy-and-research/research-and-evidence/research-2024/digital-nation

Digital Nation sources and References

Age UK (2025), Bridging the Digital Divide: Ensuring No One is Left Behind

Cebr, for Good Things Foundation (2022), The economic impact of digital inclusion in the UK

Cebr, in partnership with FutureDotNow (2025), The economic impact of closing the work essential digital skills gap

Good Things Foundation (2024), The Minimum Digital Living Standard

Good Things Foundation (2025a), Internal KPI reporting

Good Things Foundation (2025b), Internal impact reporting. Good Things Foundation send a short survey to all people that have been supported by our network who have given us permission to contact them and for whom we have appropriate contact details. Responses are not incentivised and therefore the data we collect is from a self-selecting, non-representative sample. 2685 responses between Jan 24 and Mar 25

Lloyds Banking Group (2024), 2024 Consumer Digital Index

Ofcom (2024a), Technology Tracker

Ofcom (2024b), Pricing trends for communications services in the UK - December, 2024

Ofcom (2025), Affordability Tracker - January 2025

Public First, for Good Things Foundation (2025), Omnibus polling. Online survey conducted 22nd - 24th April, 2025; sample size 2,009 UK adults, weighted by interlocking age & gender, region and social grade to nationally representative proportions

SoftwareOne (2024), Cloud Skills Report

 

Vodafone (2023), Realities of the Digital Divide