According to Nominet, which holds the national database for all .uk domains, the average number of .uk registrations was 110,000 a month in 2005 – up from 80,000 per month last year.
This, says Nominet, is the equivalent of the population of Cheltenham creating new .uk internet domain addresses each and every month.
Independent research commissioned by Nominet also reveals that .uk web addresses are the first port of call for the vast majority of Britons searching for information and purchases online.
The YouGov survey of 2,000 internet users shows that almost half of Britons (47%) feel reassured that they can contact a .uk company easily by other means, such as telephone or mail, because they have a UK presence.
More than a third (34%) also have their confidence in .uk websites boosted because they are expected to adhere to UK trade laws.
According to Lesley Cowley, Chief Executive at Nominet:
"The UK internet industry is experiencing substantial growth as witnessed by the increase in registrations of .uk internet addresses. The combination of greater broadband take up and the established popularity of .uk domain names demonstrates that the UK internet industry is more buoyant than ever."
The growth in .uk registrations is reflected worldwide.
Figures released yesterday by VeriSign, the registry for all domains ending .com and .net, show that total domain name registrations have reached an all time high of 82.9 million, representing an 8% growth since the first quarter of 2005 and a 28% increase since the second quarter of 2004.
The total number of .com and .net domains at the end of the second quarter amounted to 44.2 million, with .com representing 46% of all registered domains. Collectively, said VeriSign, country code top-level domains such as .uk and .de (Germany) account for 35% of all domains, with .net representing 7%.
