Meta Linden today published the latest monthly metrics for the month of June, in a variety of formats. For anyone who isn't excited by pawing through the spreadsheet data, we've got the quick summary here for you, ready to skim through. (If you want May's summary, it is here)

You'll find our summary of the numbers and growth below the fold.

Premium account growth fell again to 5.3% down from 8.1% in May. That brings us to 94,607 premium accounts to the end of June. Total signups increased 12.6% through June, down from 15% in May. Unique users climbed 19% in the same period. Not really sure what that means yet.

Total user hours for May are up 5% compared to May's increase of 14.5%.

72% of Second Life users are 25 years and older, a slight gain from 71.28% in May. This age band consumes 81.3% of the total user hours for June. Older people are more engaged with Second Life, with the most heavily engaged users being 45 years or older.

Gender balance remained stable in June at 57.23% male and 42.77% female.

The United States of America remains the single most populous country represented in Second Life, with 26% (up 1% from May) of the active users residing there. German users make up a 9% (down from 11% in May), in second place. Countries of the European Union make up nearly half of the active user-base. US users, however consume a disproportionate 35% of the total user hours, making them more active per capita than many other countries.

Mainland (Linden owned estates) area increased by about 4% (down from 10% in May), and private estates increased almost 11% (down from May's 13%)

Second Life growth is definitely slowing down. Certainly some slowdown is to be expected. The big questions now are, how slow will that growth get, and how soon will it stabilize?