The UK is the leading market globally for smartphone ownership, according to a new study by Google.
Over 45 per cent of the population now own such a device, with that figure rising from 30 per cent in the UK between January and October last year.
The increase made it the top market in the study, which also included the US, Germany, France and Japan, but all markets recorded significant rises.
The survey also found that consumers are increasingly using their phones to access the internet and in the UK over half of smartphone users access the internet daily.
It also found that one in ten UK smartphone users owned a tablet device alongside their smartphone as of October last year.