Parents spend on average £247 per child per year on digital entertainment, new research has found.

The technology, media and telecoms division of Harris Interactive carried out an online survey with parents of children aged between six to 16 years old.

The firm asked for details on what parents spend on mobile phones, games, digital gadgets and in-home entertainment, in an attempt to work out the annual spend of parents on their children’s digital entertainment.

The research found that the total value of parents spend is £1,956 million (£247 per child) a year. Video game software and hardware came out top of the list, with the average parent spending £98 a year on games per child.

This is closely followed by mobile phone spend, which includes texts, games and ringtones, with parents spending on average £88 a year per child.

Parents buying films for their kids contribute £427 million to the DVD market, while the total value parents spend on CDs is £209 million. The research also found that UK parents in total spend £40m on music downloads for their kids.

In comparison, mums and dads of children aged up to 16 years spend £355 per year on clothes and £112 on leisure activities (GE Money data).

“This data puts parents’ spending sharply into context and shows how important digital entertainment and communication is to children,” stated Harris Interactive.