Ofcom says console ownership is in decline

For the first time in the history of Ofcom’s Children and Parents Media Use and Attitudes Report a decline in UK console ownership has been discovered.

The latest edition of the Report says that 87 per cent of children live in a household with a fixed or portable games console compared to 90 per cent in 2012.

Specifically, 66 per cent of children aged 3-4 have a console at home while that increases to 78 per cent for the 5-7 age bracket and 91 per cent for 8-11 year olds.

In every age bracket console availability at home has decreased compared to 2012.

Note that boys remain more likely than girls to access a fixed games console. 5-7 year olds boys are 18 per cent more likely, 8-11 year olds are 14 per cent more likely and 12-15 year olds are 23 per cent more likely.

There has also been a sharp decline in the number of children who have consoles in their bedrooms, which peaked at 65 per cent in 2009 but in 2013 is now down to just 47 per cent.

This information can also ben seen divided amongst the age brackets.

Despite all of this, the overall proportion of children playing games remains unchanged at 88 per cent and consoles do remain the most commonly used device for gaming with dedicated portables being the second most popular.

However, use of consoles has declined amongst all age groups by an average of around ten per cent. So where’s the growth? Tablets, predictably. Tablet gaming has grown from 7 to 23 per cent among 5-15 year olds

Also note that the amount of time children spend gaming has, overall, not increased year-on-year.

All of this and more can be read in the full report.