Over half of the UK never consciously have a break from their phone, with 45-54-year olds spending the most time on their mobiles.

A recent survey commissioned by Compare the Market asked over 2,000 UK respondents about their data usage and mobile phone use, to uncover who the UK’s biggest data users are.

With 5G rolling out across the UK, the results of the survey show which areas of the UK are the biggest data users, and therefore most likely to benefit from the ultra-fast mobile data service. After analysing the survey data, including time spent on phones, size of data packages, number of apps used and how often they exceed data allowances, the results for the UK’s biggest data users are in.

The cities topping the list for UK’s biggest data users:

1. Cardiff
2. Glasgow
3. Leeds
4. Brighton
5. Newcastle
6. Birmingham
7. Nottingham
8. Norwich
9. Manchester
10. Edinburgh

The survey revealed those in Cardiff to be the biggest data users overall with one in five on unlimited mobile data packages, and one in 10 admitting to having more than 50 apps on their phone. Glasgow placed second; although the Scottish city has the highest number of people on unlimited data packages (23%), on average residents only download an average of 22 apps on their smartphones, and only 5% of the population have more than 50.

Across the UK, two in five 25-34-year olds admit they’ve gone over their data allowance in the last year, which is more than any other age group. They are also the most likely age group to have unlimited data packages (15%), and one of the worst for never consciously taking a break from their phones (34%).

Taking a break

The survey revealed that over half of the UK are glued to their phones, with more than a third of 45-54-year olds admitting they never have a break. Respondents from Birmingham are the ones taking the least number of digital detoxes, with more than one in three (35%) respondents admitting they also never consciously have a break from their phones. The 55+ bracket are most likely to take regular breaks from their phones, with only a quarter of them admitting they never take a break.

The most used apps

With over half of Brits glued to their phones daily, Compare the Market wanted to know how they were spending their time. Asking respondents which apps they couldn’t live without, the survey revealed that a fifth of the Gen Z population couldn’t be without entertainment apps including Amazon, Netflix and Spotify. However, the most popular app overall was revealed to be WhatsApp with 53% of people saying it was the app they couldn’t be without.

The top 10 apps for UK data users:

1. WhatsApp
2. Facebook
3. PayPal
4. Google
5. YouTube
6. Amazon
7. Google Maps
8. Gmail
9. eBay
10. FB Messenger

Whilst some popular social media apps surprisingly didn’t make it into the overall top 10, they’re still the most popular apps for a lot of people. In fact, one in four respondents from Glasgow revealed that they couldn’t live without social media apps; including WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, FB Messenger, Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat, TikTok, Pinterest, Skype and Zoom. This is compared to just one in five of the overall UK population who admitted the same.

Holly Nibbet, digital expert at Compare the Market commented; “5G is going to revolutionise the way we live our lives. Once it is fully implemented across the UK and widely adopted, our downloads and uploads are going to be so much faster. This doesn’t just mean our working lives will be easier, or our Facetimes will no longer have pixelated images but it means we can save time doing anything that requires an internet connection – no more spinning wheel of death.”