The bar chart provides information about the proportion of UK businesses that maintained a presence on social media over the period from 2012 to 2016, categorised by company size (small, medium, and large). Overall, larger businesses consistently recorded the highest proportions of social media usage throughout the period. While all categories showed an overall increase, small and medium businesses experienced more noticeable growth, whereas large businesses remained relatively stable at a high level, despite a slight dip in 2015.
In detail, among small businesses, the percentage began at approximately 28% in 2012 and rose gradually to around 30% in 2013. This figure then increased further to about 35% in 2014, before remaining stable in 2015 and climbing significantly to nearly 50% by 2016. A similar upward trend can be observed for medium-sized companies, which started at roughly 31% in 2012. Their proportion surged to about 48% in 2013 and remained almost unchanged in 2014, followed by a slight decline to 30% in 2015. However, this figure recovered markedly, reaching just over 50% in 2016.
In contrast, large businesses already had a high level of social media presence at around 78% in 2012. This remained fairly stable through 2013 and 2014, dipped to approximately 52% in 2015, and then rebounded to nearly 80% in 2016.