More than five million British people have never used the internet, official figures reveal

More than three-quarters of those stranded offline are over 65

One in 10 people in Britain have never used the internet, an official survey has revealed (iStock)

More than five million people have never used the internet in the UK, official figures have revealed.

A survey published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows 5.3m Britons have either never gone online or not used the internet in the last three months.

This amounted to 10 per cent of the UK population in 2018, when the survey was conducted.

The vast majority of this offline minority are older people, with 79 per cent of the total aged 65 or over.

But a lot are also disabled, making up 23.3 per cent of those who never go online.

The numbers of those cut off from the internet have been declining significantly in recent years.

In 2011, 8.7m people had never used the internet, almost twice as many as in 2018.

“Today’s release shows the number of people using the internet regularly and having at least basic digital skills is increasing,” said Dawn Snape, assistant director for sustainability and inequalities at the ONS.

“However, over five million adults in the UK are not accessing vital services, help and information online.

“Many of these are among the most vulnerable in society, including some disabled people and older people.”

The ONS data also revealed about 700,000 secondary school pupils do not have a tablet or computer to access the internet at home, with a further 60,000 having no internet access at all.

“Until the barriers to digital inclusion are overcome, non-digital alternatives should continue to be made available to enable everyone to participate fully in society,” Ms Snape said.

Despite most non-internet users being of retirement age, there are also 773,000 adults (equivalent to the population of Leeds) under 65 who have never gone online.

But not all of those who are stuck offline want to embrace the World Wide Web.

A 2017 survey showed almost two in three (64 per cent) of those who did not use the internet did not think it would be useful for them, compared to 20 per cent who said it was their lack of digital skills holding them back.

But acquiring even basic digital literacy can boost earnings by as much as 10 per cent, the Centre for Economics and Business Research has found.

In 2016, it was estimated that in the next 10 to 20 years about nine in ten jobs will require digital skills.