Facebook was the most popular website for UK web users last month, new statistics have revealed.

According to Nielsen Online, web users spent 12.7 per cent of their total online time on Facebook in April. This is compared with a figure of 7.2 per cent for the same month in 2008.

The research also revealed that the top ten web brands for the month - Facebook, MSN/Windows Live, Google, eBay, Yahoo!, AOL, the BBC, YouTube, Microsoft and Apple - represented 45 per cent of all online browsing.

About 48 billion minutes were spent online in total, with Facebook and MSN/Windows Live together accounting for 11 billion of these.

"That's over one in every five minutes and highlights just how competitive the online space is for both publishers and advertisers when it comes to capturing consumer attention," remarked communications director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Nielsen Online Alex Burmaster.

The report additionally showed that the average UK web user now spends 22 hours and 20 minutes a month online, representing a 34 per cent increase compared with last year.

Facebook now has over 200 million active users around the world. Seven in ten of these are based outside of the US and users spend a collective 3.5 billion minutes on the site per day.