How many people use health websites in the UK? Which services dominate, and how do people manage their health online? We analyzed the latest Ofcom data to answer the questions about online health in Britain.
Reach & Usage
How Many People Use Health Websites in the UK? (2024)
69% of UK online adults (32.5 million) visited a top ten health and wellbeing website or app in May 2024. That is up from 66% for the same sites in May 2023.
69% of internet users aged 16 and over go online to book or access healthcare services. 76% use apps or websites for wellbeing purposes.
Sources: Ofcom Online Nations Report 2024, Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024, Ipsos iris
What Do People Use Health Sites For? (2024)
40% use online services to relax. 32% use online to look up health symptoms. 30% use online to improve their mood or feel happy.
55% of internet users aged 16 and over use online services for health and fitness monitoring. AB socio-economic groups are more likely to monitor health online at 70%, compared to 38% for DE groups.
Sources: Ofcom Adults' Media Literacy Tracker 2024, Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024
NHS Online
How Many People Use NHS Online Services? (2024)
56% of UK online adults (26.5 million) visited NHS.uk or NHS-owned apps in May 2024.
NHS.uk website reached 47% (22.5 million). The NHS app was visited by 21% (10.0 million).
NHS has a 42 percentage point lead over the next-most-visited service, Healthline, at 14%.
Sources: Ofcom Online Nations Report 2024, Ipsos iris
How Does NHS Usage Vary Across the UK? (2024)
58% of adults in England (23.0 million) visited NHS-owned sites or apps. 53% in Wales (1.1 million) visited NHS sites.
39% in Scotland (1.5 million) visited NHS sites. 35% in Northern Ireland (437,000) visited NHS sites.
NHS online services peaked at 81% (38.4 million) in December 2021 during Covid-19. Usage has normalized since then.
Sources: Ofcom Online Nations Report 2024
Who Uses Online Healthcare Booking? (2024)
35-44 year olds are most likely to book healthcare online at 78%.
DE socio-economic groups are least likely to book healthcare online at 53%. There is a significant digital divide in healthcare access based on socio-economic status.
Sources: Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024
Health Information Sites
What Are the Top Health Information Sites? (2024)
Healthline reached 14% (6.8 million) of UK online adults but lost 23% (2.7 million) of its audience over three years.
National Institutes of Health reached 10% (4.7 million). WebMD reached 10% (4.5 million), losing 15% (770,000) over three years.
Medical News Today reached 8% (3.8 million), losing 19% (869,000) over three years. Mayo Clinic reached 8% (3.7 million).
MSN Health and Fitness reached 6% (2.8 million), up from 1.4 million in May 2022, bucking the declining trend.
Sources: Ofcom Online Nations Report 2024, Ipsos iris
Fitness Apps
What Are the Top Fitness Apps in the UK? (2024)
Fitbit reached 8% of UK online adults (3.9 million), but lost 980,000 visitors (-20%) since May 2022.
Strava reached 7% (3.5 million) and gained 11% (340,000) visitors since May 2022. Strava is growing while Fitbit declines.
Samsung Health reached 6% (3.0 million).
Sources: Ofcom Online Nations Report 2024, Ipsos iris
How Do Men and Women Use Fitness Apps Differently? (2024)
MyFitnessPal reached 7.3% of online women (1.7 million). Flo menstrual tracker reached 7.1% of online women (1.7 million).
Patient Access, used for NHS bookings, reached 7.3% of online women (1.8 million).
Garmin reached 6% of online men (1.5 million). Sweatcoin reached 5.4% of online men (1.3 million). Strava was 39% more likely to be visited by men.
Sources: Ofcom Online Nations Report 2024
Demographics
Who Uses Health Sites Most? (2024)
Women are 10 percentage points more likely than men to visit health and wellbeing sites, at 88% versus 80%.
57% of NHS sites' adult visitors were women, 43% men.
Healthline, WebMD, Fitbit, and Mayo Clinic attracted about twice as many women as men. MSN Health and Fitness was 49% more likely to be visited by men.
Sources: Ofcom Online Nations Report 2024
- [Ofcom Online Nations Report 2024](https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/research-and-data/online-research/online-nation/2024/online-nation-2024-report.pdf)
- Ofcom Technology Tracker 2024
- Ofcom Adults' Media Literacy Tracker 2024
- Ipsos iris