Computer software consumption by paid and free UK 2012-2018

This statistic presents the findings of a survey on the computer software consumption, by paid or free accessing, among computer software consumers in the United Kingdom (UK) from August 2012 to March 2018, in seven survey waves. As of the most recent survey wave, ending March 2018, 29 percent of those who had consumed computer software did so entirely for free.

Was the computer software you consumed paid or free?

Characteristic	100% Paid	Mix of Paid and Free	100% Free
March 2018	54%	17%	29%
March 2017	26%	17%	58%
March to May 2016	25%	19%	56%
March to May 2015	24%	17%	59%
March to May 2013	25%	18%	57%
November 2012 to January 2013	28%	18%	53%
August to October 2012	24%	18%	59%

0%25%50%75%100%125%

Download

Source

Show detailed source information?

Already a member?

Sources

Use Ask Statista Research Service

Release date

July 2018

More information

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

August 2012 to March 2018

Number of respondents

572*

Age group

12 years and older

Special properties

all who have downloaded or streamed/accessed computer software in the past three months

Supplementary notes

* Base of most recent survey wave (Wave 8). Base varied by wave: n (W2) = 661; n (W3) = 751; n (W4) = 685; n (W5) = 577; n (W6) = 582; n (W7) = 615; n (W8) = 572.
Online (CAWI) and face-to-face (CAPI) surveys were used.
The source does not provide detailed information regarding the question. The chosen wording here might therefore differ slightly from the survey.

Citation formats

Other statistics on the topic

Payment apps or services frequently used in scam payments in the United States in 2023

U.S. payment apps and services used in scams 2023

Usage of tokens in payment management by online merchants worldwide in 2024

Usage of tokenization in e-commerce payment management worldwide 2024

Share of users in the United Kingdom who consumed computer software illegally from 2015 to 2022

Illegal computer software consumption in the UK 2022

Payment services most frequently impersonated in financial phishing attacks worldwide in 2022

Global payment systems most impersonated in phishing 2022

Access all statistics starting from $2,388 USD yearly ^*

* For commercial use only

For single users

$0 USD

Always free

Access limited to Free Statistics. Premium Statistics are not included.

Free Statistics

Based on your interests

For single users

$199 USD

per month, billed annually ¹

Buy now

Free Statistics
Premium Statistics

For teams of up to 5 people

$1,299 USD

per month, billed annually ¹

Buy now

Free + Premium Statistics
Reports
Market Insights

1 All prices do not include sales tax. The account requires an annual contract and will renew after one year to the regular list price.

Compare accounts

Leading companies trust Statista:

Statista has been my savior on several occasions. The site is easy to maneuver and the data is in a format that can go right into a report or presentation.

Marlene Greenfield
Vice President, Hearst Magazines