The UK’s Year in Search: Google Trends of 2020

As the year 2020 comes to an end, we’re all breathing a sigh of relief. A year full of many surprises – COVID-19, George Flloyd, Tiger King, Elon Musk and Grimes naming their baby “X Æ A-12” – will not soon be missed, and definitely not forgotten,

In a year of such uncertainty, more people than ever turned to Google for answers. Questions like “why is it called COVID-19”, “how to make a face mask”, and “when will lockdown end”, were at the top of our minds during the lockdown back in March, with many of us scratching our heads at what would become of the year. 

As barbers and hairdressers closed around the country, most UK citizens had to rock the shaggy look or fend for themselves, with searches like “DIY haircut” and “How to cut your own hair” trending in the UK.

As society shifted to online and digital platforms, searches for deliveries increased, and we made the most of the services, with top searches being “afternoon tea delivery” and “wine delivery”.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom – 2020 was also a year for trying new things. With many people having more time on their hands, we got creative. “DIY” and “How-to” searches grew, with baking and garden being some of the most popular topics.

2020 was also a year of important conversations. The global “Black Lives Matter” movement, and “George Flloyd” were top trending events on Google around the globe.

Without further ado, here are the UK’s top trending searches of 2020.

The UK’s top searches of 2020:

1. Coronavirus
2. US election
3. Caroline Flack
4. Coronavirus symptoms
5. Coronavirus update
6. Premier League
7. Boris Johnson
8. Eat Out to Help Out
9. Kobe Bryant
10.  Kim Jong-un

The top questions we asked in 2020:

1. Who won the election?
2. Where does vanilla flavouring come from?
3. How many cases of coronavirus in the UK?
4. What is VE Day?
5. How did coronavirus start?
6. When will lockdown end?
7. How to make a face mask?
8.  How to make hand sanitizer?
9. How many people have died from coronavirus?
10. What time is Boris Johnson’s speech today?
    

Our top COVID-19 searches:

1. Coronavirus
2. Coronavirus symptoms
3. Coronavirus update
4. Eat Out to Help Out
5. Hand sanitizer
6. Coronavirus stats
7. Covid test
8. Covid-19 prevention
9.  Italy Coronavirus
10. Furlough

The most talked-about news events of 2020:

1. US election
2. George Floyd
3. Madeleine McCann
4. VE Day
5. Captain Tom
6. Iran
7. Trump vs Biden
8. Ghislaine Maxwell
9. Storm Ciara
10. Kanye West

The top How-to searches of 2020:

1. How to make a face mask?
2. How to make hand sanitizer?
3. How to make bread?
4. How to get tested for coronavirus?
5. How to cut your own hair?
6. How to cook eel?
7. How to cut men’s hair?
8. How to boost immune system?
9. How to self isolate?
10. How to treat coronavirus?

The celebrities we obsessed over in 2020:

1. Phillip Schofield
2. Carole Baskin
3. Joe Exotic
4. Jordan North
5. Elon Musk
6. Prince Harry
7. Kanye West
8. Ruthie Henshall
9. Johnny Depp
10. Tom Hanks

The most searched movies of 2020:

1. 1917
2. Parasite
3. The Gentlemen
4. Lion
5. Jojo Rabbit
6. 365 Days
7. Tenet
8. Enola Holmes
9. Little Women
10. The Nest

The top TV shows we binged in 2020:

1. Love Island
2. Dennis Nilsen
3. White House Farm
4. Normal People
5. The Stranger
6. Tiger King
7. The Fall
8. Christine Keeler
9. The Undoing
10. Gangs Of London

The songs we needed some extra help with in 2020:

1. WAP lyrics
2. We’ll Meet Again lyrics
3. Godzilla lyrics
4. The Box lyrics
5. Rule Britannia lyrics
6. Dance Monkey lyrics
7. No Time To Die lyrics
8. Break My Stride lyrics
9. Land Of Hope And Glory lyrics
10. Savage Love lyrics

The recipes we most wanted to try in 2020:

1. Bread recipe
2. Beef bourguignon recipe
3. School cake recipe
4. KFC recipe
5. White bread recipe
6. American pancakes recipe
7. Wagamama katsu curry recipe
8. Sourdough starter recipe
9. IKEA meatball recipe
10. Soda bread recipe

Find more about the United Kingdom’s Year in Search 2020.