A brand new study by pCloud has revealed the UK cities which are most reliant on the internet and how our daily routine, across the country, would be impacted if the internet went down for the day.
Many people aim to reduce their screen time and ditch the online world for more of their day, but in a world consumed with technology, research reveals UK residents are more reliant on the internet than you know with 9 out of 10 (91%) Brits regularly being online. The new study has also analysed the average day to find that 66% of our daily routine needs the internet to function.
In December, the world ground to a halt as Google services went down, showing us just how dependent we are on technology. pCloud has revealed which UK cities are most and least reliant on the internet, as well as the aspects of our daily routine which would be worst affected if we were to lose the internet completely.
94.9% of Cardiffs population relies on the internet!
As well as being home to many globally recognised financial companies, Cardiff is also one of the countries biggest administrative cities, making it no surprise that this UK city has been found to be one of the hardest cities to cope without the internet for a day. An incredible 94.9% of the population have used the internet, especially within the past 3 months – a likely result of businesses having to go remote during the pandemic.
The top 10 most impacted cities
| City | % using the internet |
| Edinburgh | 96.1 |
| Bristol | 95.4 |
| Swindon | 95.3 |
| Leeds | 94.9 |
| Nottingham | 94.9 |
| Bedford | 94.9 |
| Cardiff | 94.9 |
| Bournemouth | 94.8 |
| Aberdeen | 93.7 |
| Southampton | 93.6 |
Wolverhampton is the city LEAST dependent on the internet in the UK!
Wolverhampton's economy is based on engineering and the service sector, which potentially is why only 77% of the city is reliant on the internet. Unlike some other businesses, which revolve entirely around e-commerce and online sales, manual labour and machines are somewhat less reliant on the internet to get the job done.
The top 10 least impacted cities
| City | % using the internet |
| Wolverhampton | 77.1 |
| Sunderland | 79.5 |
| Darlington | 82.4 |
| Glasgow | 83.3 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 83.6 |
| Liverpool | 84.6 |
| Coventry | 84.8 |
| Derby | 85.3 |
| Hull | 85.8 |
| Warrington | 86.7 |
66% of our day is completely RELIANT on the internet
Government data shows that 91% of the UK are reliant on the internet, and our study revealed that 66% of the average daily routine would be affected, if not impossible without the internet!
The study categorised the day into six sections:
- Work
- Entertainment
- Personal care
- Commuting
- Relationships
- Purchases
Here are the results…
100% of Work, Entertainment & Purchases require the internet!
Contactless payments and ATMs wouldn’t be possible, making buying your lunch or a bus ticket to work out of the question without cash. Streaming online music, movies and online shopping would also halt.
With the rise of remote working, businesses are not only reliant on the internet to make calls and send emails but to also maintain contact with their employees working from home. From using the office fob to accessing online drives, all will be impossible without the use of the internet.
Relationships and Personal Care are the LEAST impacted by the internet!
Only 35% of relationships are affected by the internet as face to face socialising can still be achieved by everyone, but with the internet down, there would be no whatsapp groups or face timing. People would have to revert to texts and calls, meaning mobile lines would most likely overload and leave us with only landlines working.
Just 11% of personal care is affected by the internet as the fundamental basics of living, such as eating and sleeping, can be achieved without it.
See the full report at https://blog.pcloud.com/broken-connections/
