How Many People Own a Smartphone in the UK?

The first smartphone, known as Simon Personal Communicator, was invented by IBM in 1992, and released in 1994. At the time, the notion of almost every person owning a smartphone was unthinkable. As of March 2020, 87% of people in the UK were smartphone owners. Do you think they were aware that they made an item which is now omnipresent, moreover essential?

If you are eager to find out exactly how many people own a smartphone in the UK, and many more, stick with us because we have prepared answers to all of your questions.

For starters, check out these highlighted stats.

Smartphone Ownership Statistics UK

We are cutting the suspense and bringing you the answers.

In 2019, 55.5 million people in the UK were smartphone owners. According to Statista, in 2025, the number of smartphone owners is estimated to reach 64.9 million.

As of March 2021, 92% was smartphone users’ share among mobile phone users in households in the UK. Only 8% of mobile phone users weren’t smartphone owners.

Smartphones are widely dominating the mobile phone industry for quite a while, and there is no reason to believe that this will change any time soon. 

According to Statista, in 2024, the smartphone user penetration rate is expected to reach 88,1% of the total UK population.

Statista’s predictions for 2025, estimate smartphone penetration rate to be 93.7%.

Practically all of those aged between 16 and 54 years were smartphone owners in the UK. The most significant overall increase is noticed among elderly smartphone usage UK. In 2012, 19% of adults aged between 55 and 64 years were smartphone owners, while in 2021, 83% of them owned a smartphone. 

There are four socio-economic groups in the UK.

• AB — Higher & intermediate managerial, administrative, professional occupations.
• C1 — Supervisory, clerical & junior managerial, administrative, professional occupations.
• C2 — Skilled manual occupations. 
• DE — Semi-skilled & unskilled manual occupations, Unemployed and lowest grade occupations.

In 2020, 92% of Statista‘s survey participants within the AB socio-economic groups were smartphone users. At the same time, 96% of those in C1, 90% of those in C2, and 84% of the DE socio-economic group were smartphone users.

In 2020, 87% of respondents in Statista’s survey, aged between 16 and 24 said they mostly use smartphones for internet access. 92% of those aged 55 and over, used smartphones to access the internet. According to finder.com, people in the UK spend 2 hours and 34 minutes online on their smartphones daily.

UK Smartphone Market Share

In October 2020, iOS and Android accounted for almost all of the total market share for mobile OS, solidifying their dominance. In May 2021, the situation remained the same, with the iOS market share of 49.97%, closely followed by Android with 49.46%.

As of November 2021, the leading smartphone model was Apple iPhone 12 PRO, with 13% of the market share of smartphone models sold in the UK. 

Two manufacturers were dominating the top five smartphone models, Apple’s iPhones and Samsungs. 

In 2020, the second place was occupied by Apple’s iPhone 11 with 12%. Remaining three spots went to Samsung’s Galaxy A10 and Galaxy S20 Plus 5G with 4% each, and Galaxy A21s with 3% of smartphone models’ market share.

In 2020, 82% of participants reported Samsung as the most preferred smartphone brand for a future purchase, pursued by Apple and Huawei with 59% and 41%. Approximately half of the participants are using a smartphone that is not older than one year. 

Wrap Up

Back in the day, owning a smartphone was a luxury. Today, people without one are a rare species, on the verge of extinction, we might even say.

Sure, we could debate whether that is good or bad, rack up pros & cons all day long, but the simplest fact remains – smartphones have become a window into our World, and it became hard to look away, especially in these trying times of our social lives.

In a couple of years, when the dust settles, we could ask again – How many people own a smartphone in the UK, and examine if the forecasts were accurate.