Those aged 55+ accounted for 22% of UK visits to all categories of websites in the four weeks to 12 May, up 54% since 2005 and 40% from 2006. This compares to 23.5% of internet visits from 35 to 44-year-olds.
The increase has come from rich and poor alike.
The Experian Mosaic groups Twilight Subsistence (pensioners subsisting on meagre incomes) and Grey Perspectives (pensioners enjoying retirement with savings to supplement their pensions) have both increased their online footprint.
Internet visits from Twilight Subsistence are up 29% over the past two years, while visits from Grey Perspectives rose by 30%.
Among the top categories visited by those aged 55+, search engines, adult and shopping and classifieds are the favourites, and are consistent with the most visited categories overall.
Silver surfers show a particular fondness for travel and news and media websites, with these categories ranking higher among silver surfers.
Last week, 27% of visits to travel websites and 24% of visits to news and media websites were from those aged 55 and over.
Money and leisure pursuits are more interesting to silver surfers than other demographic groups. Cruise, family, stocks and shares, e-greetings and yachting and boating websites receive the highest concentration of visits from silver surfers.
Cruise websites, for example, received 48% of their traffic from UK internet users aged 55+ in the four weeks to 12 May.
- Heather Hopkins, vice-president of research, Hitwise UK.
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