UK consumers are ahead of their European counterparts when it comes to mobile usage, according to a new global study from Forrester Research. 

31 per cent of UK adults use mobile internet at least monthly, compared to 19 per cent of Europeans, while 22 per cent of UK adults use social networking sites on mobile, compared to 11 per cent of mainlanders. 

The Global Mobile Behaviors, 2011 report is based on data from three recent surveys from North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, and incorporates data from more than 333,000 respondents, says the company. 

The vast majority of these respondents own a mobile phone, with several countries presenting high numbers who own more than one phone – 36 per cent of respondents in Metropolitan China, 36 per cent in Spain, 34 per cent in Hong Kong, 32 per cent in the Netherlands, and 34 per cent in the US. 

Asia-Pacific countries also figure in mobile internet usage charts. Half the surveyed population in Japan and metropolitan China use mobile internet at least monthly. The US, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the UK show uptakes of between 28 per cent and 36 per cent.

Asia also leads the way in terms of mobile social usage. About one-third of metropilitan Chinese mobile users access social networking sites on their mobiles at least monthly. Mobile social networking use is not as widely adopted in Europe – only 11 per cent of mobile phone owners are regularly engaging with social media on their phones.

The report also says that interest in apps is focused on a select group of categories. US mobile internet users are most likely to have downloaded an app in the past three months: 90 per cent compared to 61 per cent of Europeans. 

The most popular app categories are: weather, games, social networking, navigation/mapping, music, and news. While weather tops the list in the US, games and social networking lead in Europe. Among Asian adults, music and gaming apps are typically the most popular to download, according to the research.

The report is available from Forrester Researchs website, and costs $499.