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The number of children in the UK who own a mobile phone has fallen for the first time as they turn to tablet computers to access the internet.

And the number of children who say they have an online social media profile has also fallen for the first time, down from 81 per cent last year to 68 per cent among 12 to 15-year-olds, Ofcom figures suggest.

While nearly all 12 to 15-year-olds with an active online profile continue to use Facebook (97 per cent), they are now less likely to have a profile on Bebo (four per cent, down from eight per cent last year) and more likely to have a profile on Twitter (37 per cent, up from 25 per cent).

The overall number of children aged five to 15 owning a mobile fell from 49 per cent last year to 43 per cent this year, the first decrease since Ofcom began compiling the figures in 2005.

The proportion of eight to 11-year-olds who own a basic mobile phone - as opposed to a smartphone - fell steeply to 15% from 28% last year

This was mainly because the proportion of eight to 11-year-olds who own a basic mobile phone – as opposed to a smartphone – fell steeply to 15 per cent from 28 per cent last year.

Among this age group, 18 per cent now own a smartphone and the same proportion own a tablet computer. While the smartphone figure is largely stable year-on-year, tablet ownership has grown four-fold among eight to 11-year-olds since last year’s figure of four per cent.

Smartphones remain more widely used among older children aged 12 to 15, with 62 per cent owning one, but 26 per cent now own a tablet computer, up from just seven per cent last year.

Tablet computers are becoming a must-have device for children of all ages, according to Ofcom’s figures. The use of tablets has tripled among five to 15-year-olds, up from 14 per cent to 42 per cent since 2012, and more than a quarter (28 per cent) of three and four-year-olds now use a tablet computer at home.

Tablet usage is also rising rapidly among five to seven-year-olds, up from 11 per cent last year to 39 per cent, and eight to 11-year-olds, up from 13 per cent last year to 44 per cent.

The age groups are five times more likely than last year to use mostly a tablet when accessing the internet at home.

The proportion of children mainly using a laptop, netbook or desktop computer to use the internet has fallen from 85 per cent last year to 68 per cent.

The findings are part of Ofcom’s report Children And Parents: Media Use And Attitudes, which examines how children access and use different types of media and the role parents play in overseeing them.