The Number of adults who have either never used the internet or have not used it in the last three months, described as "internet non-users", has been declining over recent years (ONS,2019) but there has been a slowing in the rate of progress in people moving online and gaining basic skills.
There are 15.2 million people in the uk who are either non-users, or limited users of the internet (good things Foundation, 2017). A report from citizens Advice Scotland (2018) found almost one in five respondents (18%) reported that they never use the internet.
In 2018, 8% of people in the uk (4.3 million people) were estimated to have zero basic skills (i.e. are unable to do any of the activities described here). A further 12% (6.4 million adults) were estimated to only have limited abilities online (missing at last one of the basic digital skills) (ons,2019).
Research from good things foundation and CEBR suggests that at current rates, 6.9 million people will still lack digital skills by 2028 (good things foundation, 2019b).
They is much to do to reach on the digital periphery.