More than 18 million Australians turned to a health-related website or app in January 2025, as they doubled down on their New Year’s resolutions, the latest Ipsos iris data has revealed.
Ipsos found that 21.5 million Australians aged 14+ used the internet in January and spent on average 4.8 hours per day, or almost 148 hours for the month, online. The figure was up 4.3 per cent on December 2024 data.
Nearly 21 million people used a news website or app in January 2025, up 3.1 per cent year-on-year, reaching 97.5 per cent of online Aussies aged 14+. Nearly 8.8 million of those used a health-related app.
The data found that the number of people using a health-related website or app jumped by 4.3 per cent in January 2025 to 18.4 million, compared to December 2024.
On average, users notched up 68 minutes per month viewing health-related content – an increase of 20.9 per cent compared to December 2024.
According to the Ipsos iris data, the biggest growth came in the fitness and exercise sub-category, with an additional 768,000 Aussies (7.9 per cent) using a fitness or exercise-related website or app in January, compared to December 2024.
Women aged 14 to 54 were most likely to turn to fitness and exercise-related websites and apps. Women aged 40 to 54 spent the most time using these websites and apps, averaging almost two hours per month, while women over 40 were more likely to access nutrition and diet-related websites and apps.
Major local and global news events during January 2025, including the Australian Open, the Australia vs. India cricket test, the California wildfires and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, continued to attract strong reader interest in news websites and apps.
The news audience online increased by 1.1 per cent from December 2024 and 3.1 per cent for the same time last year.
Australians spent more than five hours per month in January consuming news content online.
Ipsos iris reported growth month-on-month in the career category, with audience numbers up 5.9 per cent compared to December 2024 and 7.6 per cent year-on-year. The data reflects the general trend of people looking for a new job at the start of the year.
The homes and property category also grew in January 2025 (up 5.9 per cent), along with the games category, which increased by 3 per cent, in line with the school holiday period.
Retail audiences held steady throughout January, with numbers on par with November and December 2024 figures – often the busiest time for shoppers. The data shows the resilience of e-commerce in the Australian market and the shift towards greater pre-purchase planning, with cost-of-living pressures driving shoppers to research and shop around online for deals.
The largest year-on-year audience growth was recorded by the automotive category (up 10 per cent), games (up 8.8 per cent), energy suppliers/utilities (up 8.4 per cent), and homes and property (up 7 per cent).
The most consumed website and app categories in January were social networking (21.4 million), search (21.4 million), technology (21.3 million), retail (21.2 million) and entertainment (21.1 million).
