Broadband connections now form 72.6 per cent of all internet connections in the UK, according to figures released by the Office of National Statistics this week.

As of the end of April, an estimated 13.9 million households, or 57 per cent, in Great Britain had internet access – a figure that has increased by 600,000 or 5 per cent over the last year. Including Northern Ireland, the number of households with internet access in the United Kingdom is 14.3 million.

The South East still leads as the region with the highest internet penetration at 66 per cent, while the area with the lowest access level was Scotland with 48 per cent.

Broadband access is also the highest in London, where 78 per cent of households with internet access had a broadband connection, making almost half of London broadband-enabled. Northern Ireland had the lowest proportion of households with a broadband connection at 56 per cent or 28 per cent of all Northern Ireland households.