Online economy in UK is now worth £100bn

THE UK’s internet economy is now worth a staggering £100bn a year, according to a landmark survey commissioned by search giant Google.

The online economy now represents 7.2 per cent of UK GDP – more than construction, transport or utilities. The report shows this share is likely to grow by about 10 per cent a year, reaching 10 per cent of GDP by 2015.

The survey, carried out by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), shows the UK is among the top e-commerce economies, exporting £2.80 for every £1 imported. This is at odds with the offline economy, which exports 90p for every £1 imported.

Overall, the UK ranks sixth, scoring similarly to the Netherlands, Norway, and Finland and better than Germany, the US, and France. The highest-ranked country is Denmark. Within the UK London was the leading region.

The industry now employs 250,000 people in the UK. Around 60 per cent of the online economy is driven by online shopping and the cost of users’ connections to the internet.

The number of adults who bought goods or services online in the past year totalled 31m, or 62 per cent of all adults.

Source : cityAM