YNOT EUROPE – The population of web users in the UK rose by more than 1.9 million during 2009, with people age 50 or older composing more than half of the growth.

According to new figures from UKOM, a division of audience measurement consultancy Nielsen, by the end of May the UK’s online surfing population number 38.8 million individuals, an increase of more than 5 percent over the 36.9 million in May of 2009.

Over-50s accounted for 53 percent of the growth, or about one million new users. All told, the age group accounts for 31 percent of all users online.

Although most of the new users in the over-50 group were men (722,000), 15 percent (284,000) were women. In younger populations, though, the majority of new surfers were women: 272,000 women aged 21-34 joined the wired camp between May 2009 and May 2010, as did 231,000 females between the ages of 12 and 20.

“The internet is getting older in more ways than one,” said Alex Burmaster, a European internet analyst for UKOM. “Not only is the medium itself maturing, but the audience is shifting towards older age groups. This growth is a reminder, if one was still needed, that it is very much a form of media utilized by all age groups. The fact that one in four Britons who use the internet today are 50 to 64 years old proves it is no longer the sole preserve of the young and technical literati.”

Health, video, community, travel, fashion, genealogy, cooking and greeting cards sites attract the most users aged 50 and older, Burmaster noted.

“This age group have a wide appetite when it comes to the types of sites they are using to supplement the interests and needs they have in the daily lives,” he said. “Consequently, a number of brands across a range of industries, particularly travel, are showing the rest what a valuable medium online is when it comes to reaching a desired audience who haven’t grown up with the Internet.”