20.9 million people use a news website or app in February, reaching 96.5% of online Australians
24 March 2025 – More than 21 million Australians used a finance-related website or app in February 2025, as they got down to business and back to work and making financial decisions, with banking, insurance and loans leading the charge following the RBA’s interest rate reduction. As cost-of-living pressures continue to dominate the national conversation, the number of people using a finance-related website or app rose by 4.3% month-on-month in February to reach 21.4 million, the data revealed. It also represented a year-on-year increase of 5.6%.
Australians spent almost two hours each, on average, in February using finance-related websites and apps. The banking sub-category dominated, with 96.9% of online Australians aged 14+ using some form of online banking via a website or app. The insurance and loans sub-categories recorded the largest year-on-year growth during February, jumping 21.6% and 16% respectively. Both men and women have equally been engaging with insurance websites and apps, while the over 65s were the most likely to have been looking at insurance. Women were significantly more likely to
have been looking at loans’ websites and apps in February, with women aged 40 to 54 the largest cohort.
A swathe of big local and international news events drives news websites and apps usage.
Trending Australian and global news events have resulted in 20.9 million people, or 96.5% of online Australians aged 14+, using a news website or app during February. Australians spent more than four hours consuming news content online during February. Trending Australian news stories, including the death of a teenage girl following a shark attack off Queensland’s Bribie Island, the threat to Western Australia from Cyclone Zelia, the ongoing dramas on the Nine Network’s Married At First Sight, the anti-Semitic video controversy with two Sydney nurses, continued cost-of-living concerns and the first RBA interest rate reduction since November 2020, plus the sudden death of AFL play Troy Selwood, and the controversial comments made by Triple M radio host Marty Sheargold over the Matildas, which led to his departure.
In global news, the return of Donald Trump to politics dominated online attention, including the introduction of tariffs, plus the ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine, the controversial actions of Elon Musk including his management of X, his role in the Trump administration and his personal life, the death of actor Gene Hackman, the NFL Super Bowl and Australian player Jordan Mailata, and the Grammys red carpet action and awards.
Health, finance, business and education see online audience increases in February
Categories with growth larger than the online population increase in February compared to January were the health, finance, business sectors (corporate and business information websites), education and directories. Categories with the largest year-on-year increases in online audiences were automotive (+10.3%), travel (+7.9%), career (+7.9%), games (+7.9%) and sports (+7.5%). Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia, showed that 22.127 million Australians used the internet in February. Australians aged 14+ spent an average of 4.7 hours per day, or 131 hours for the month, online in February 2025, which was up 6.8% compared to the same time last year. The most consumed website and app categories in January were search (22 million), social networking (22 million), technology (22 million), retail (21.8 million) and entertainment (21.7 million).
Ipsos iris, which officially launched in March 2023, provides accurate data about the 22.1 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone,
PC/laptop and tablet devices.
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