New figures from comScore indicate that smartphone users in five key European markets are increasingly turning to their smartphones for news, The Next Web reports.

According to the study, 36.9% of smartphone users surveyed in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK reported accessing news sites via an app or browser in January 2012 – an increase of 74%, year-on-year. More frequent use is also on the rise; those accessing news on their smartphone “almost every day” saw an 82% increase.

Breaking smartphone-based news consumption down by country, the UK has the highest percentage of frequent users, at 46.8%, with France holding second place at 36.9%.

comScore’s figures come from its MobiLens service, which surveys “a nationally representative sample of mobile subscribers age 13 and above,” on usage of their primary mobile device.