Billions of searches on Yahoo! reveal what has caught the attention of the British public in 2011.

The biggest ongoing concern is the economy with searches for the FTSE, national lottery and job centre.

Fascination with celebrities shows no sign of ceasingwith Ryan Giggs’s superinjunction the biggest news story of the year.

Yahoo! published its Year in Review for 2011 showing what’s really been capturing Britain’s imagination over the last year by unravelling the data from billions of searches on Yahoo.co.uk.

Yahoo! reveals that the two themes obsessing the nation in 2011 – just as in 2010 and 2009 – are economic instability and celebrity.

Katie Price.

The top 10 celebrities (last year’s number in brackets)
1. Katie Price (2)
2. Cheryl Cole (1)
3. Kate Middleton (new entry)
4. Imogen Thomas (new entry)
5. Pippa Middleton (new entry)
6. Amy Winehouse (new entry)
7. Ryan Giggs (new entry)
8. Victoria Beckham (6)
9. Kim Kardashian (new entry)
10. Rihanna (new entry)

Search Top 10 for Price and Cole, with the two reality TV stars striking a blow for the common (wo)man by ranking higher than both the Duchess of Cambridge and her sister, even in the year of a Royal Wedding and with all the attendant publicity about Pippa Middleton’s nearly-royal rear.

Julia White, Editor of Yahoo! omg! UK and showbiz expert said “You might expect that having been crowned queen of Yahoo!’s top searched for celebs last year, Cheryl Cole would be making way for a real life Princess this year.

The top 10 of everything 2011 (last year’s numbers in brackets)
1. FTSE (new entry)
2. National Lottery (1)
3. Job Centre (2)
4. Katie Price (9)
5. Cheryl Cole (no change)
6. EastEnders (new entry)
7. X Factor (new entry)
8. Big Brother (new entry)
9. IPhone5 (new entry)
10. Kate Middleton (new entry)

With troubles in the Eurozone and a slow-growing UK economy, it looks like we’re interested in the markets as never before.

Even in a year that saw the Royal Wedding, UK riots, the phone-hacking scandal and death of Colonel Gaddafi, celebrity still appears to interest us more than news, with Katie Price and Cheryl Cole both making the top 10 - for the third year running - ahead of all of these events and Kate Middleton, a new entry at 10.

Despite claims of its demise, The X Factor’s popularity endures (7).

Other searches

• Celebrity Couple – Ryan Giggs & Imogen Thomas
• Fashion garment – Pandora Bracelet
• Beauty product – GHD Hair Straighteners
• Fashion Label – Next
• Film – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Leading lady – Jennifer Aniston
• Festival – Glastonbury
• Song – Adele, Someone Like You
• Politician – David Cameron
• Political news story – Gaddafi
• International news event – Gaddafi
• Brand – Apple
• Premier League footballer – Ryan Giggs
• Sporting Event – Rugby World Cup
• Soap Star – Helen Flanagan
• Reality TV contestant – Amy Childs
• Soap – Eastenders
• TV star – Holly Willoughby
• Mobile phone – iPhone 5
• Car – Nissan Qashqai
• Car manufacturer – BMW

Ryan Giggs

Top 10 news stories
1. Ryan Giggs superinjunction
2. Death of Amy Winehouse
3. Phone-hacking scandal
4. 2012 Olympics
5. Royal Wedding
6. Death of Gaddafi
7. World floods (Dublin, Thailand, Australia, etc)
8. Madeleine McCann
9. UK riots (London, Birmingham, Manchester)
10. Death of Marco Simoncelli