ComScore has announced some interesting new data about European Smartphone usage that shows a drastic change in the amount of news data being consumed. The data comes from the five leading markets in Europe including; France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Over 36% of smartphone users reported viewing news on their device via an app. or browser. This is an increase of almost 75% over last January’s figures. The number who access news everyday on their phones grew even larger at 82%.

Hesham Al-Jehani, ComScore’s European product manager for Mobile commented on the trend:

“The continued growth in smartphone adoption in Europe has fuelled the increasing consumption of news and information on-the-go,”

“Today’s mobile consumer wants to be plugged into what’s happening around them every second of the day, and their smartphones are enabling them to do that. This rapidly changing trend brings with it significant incremental opportunity for news publishers to extend their audiences, but also the challenges of delivering their content effectively through the small screen.”

Overall Spain grew the most at 160% since last January. Germany was next and grew 82%, followed by the UK who chimed in at 76%. Italy was hot on their heels at 75% and France came in last at 59% growth. All impressive figures for smartphone users who access news data.

Those who are interested in the breakdown by frequency of access can visit ComScore’s official Google+Reader”>press release on European smartphone usage and news data.