Screens are everywhere, and people already spend an average of 6 hours and 49 minutes looking at them daily. Do you know what country has the highest daily screen time? More on that later. The answer will shock you. Discover in-depth statistics on: What country has the highest screen time, and which one the lowest How much time do we spend watching TV, smartphones, or computers How did the pandemic influence screen time in adults and children Do you know what is the recommended healthy screen time? The number is pretty low. See below. Average screen time Average American screen time Average screen time by country How much screen time is too much? Average screen time by age Pandemic’s impact on screen time Average mobile screen time Average computer screen time Average social media screen time Eye-Opening Screen Time Statistics Average worldwide screen time is 6 hours and 49 minutes, whereas the average American’s screen time clocks at 7 hours and 7 minutes. 85% of Americans go online every day, with 31% of them being online constantly. South Africans have the highest screen time at 10 hours and 4 minutes per day, whereas Japan has the lowest at 3 hours and 57 minutes. On average, females have higher screen time except in the 35-44 age group, where males overtake them. During the pandemic, the average screen time in primary-aged children rose by an additional 1.39 hours per day. Brazil has the highest phone screen time in the world at 5 hours and 26 minutes per day, whereas China has the lowest at 3 hours and 10 minutes. On average, Americans check their phones every 4 minutes. Philippians spend the most time on social media, averaging 3 hours and 52 minutes per day, whereas the Japanese only spend 47 minutes. What’s the average screen time? People’s average internet screen time is 6 hours and 49 minutes daily. Screen time vastly changes in different countries. Source: DataReportal (links to sources at bottom) What’s the average American screen time? An average American spends 7 hours and 7 minutes looking at the screen in 2022. Here’s the table of average screen time in the US: YearAverage Americanscreen time20227h 7min20217h 11min20207h 18min20197h 18min20187h 19min20177h 21min20167h 13min20156h 59min20146h 52min(Statista, eMarketer) Screen time among US people is getting higher on mobile devices and lower on TV. Here’s a table of US screen time by device, mobile vs. TV: YearScreen timeon mobileScreen timeon TV20203h 49min3h 29min20193h 43min3h 35min20183h 44min3h 35min20173h 25min3h 56min20163h 8min4h 5min20152h 49min4h 10min20142h 32min4h 20min(eMarketer) 85% of US adults go online every day. 31% are online almost constantly, whereas 48% go online only several times per day. Here’s how often US adults go online: How frequentlyUS adults go onlinePercentage ofUS adultsAlmost always online31%Several times per day48%Once per day6%Several times per week4%Less often4%Never7%(Pew) Related: Patreon statistics On average, US teenagers spend 7.5 hours in front of the screen daily. Source: CDC What’s the average screen time by country? South Africa led the world with 10 hours and 4 minutes of screen time in July 2022. On the other hand, in Japan, an average person spends only 4 hours and 3 minutes of daily screen time. CountryAverage screen timeSouth Africa10h 4minPhilippines9h 58minBrazil9h 42minColombia9h 28minArgentina9h 23minMexico8h 40minThailand8h 37minMalaysia8h 36minUAE8h 21minEgypt8h 10minRussia8h 1minPortugal7h 50minIsrael7h 49minIndonesia7h 48minSaudi Arabia7h 45minTurkey7h 45minSingapore7h 34minTaiwan7h 25minHong Kong7h 12minRomania7h 12minUSA7h 7minCanada6h 54minIndia6h 50minPoland6h 42minVietnam6h 42minNew Zealand6h 24minIreland6h 21minUK6h 16minGreece6h 16minSweden6h 12minAustralia6h 11minItaly6h 9minCzechia6h 6minSpain6h 5minSwitzerland5h 56minAustria5h 55minBelgium5h 47minNetherlands5h 39minGermany5h 32minSouth Korea5h 31minFrance5h 30minDenmark5h 28minChina5h 28minJapan3h 57min(DataReportal) What country has the highest screen time? South Africa holds first place in screen time, clocking at 10 hours and 4 minutes per day. The Philippines closely follows it with 9 hours and 58 minutes of daily screen time. Source: DataReportal How much screen time is too much? The recommended screen time worldwide is 2 hours a day for adults and children. And kids under the age of 2 should have no screen time at all. Sources: NIH, AAP What are the most common consequences of too much screen time? Too much screen time may lead to: Lower grades in school Reading fewer books Less time with family and friends Not enough outdoor or physical activity Weight issues Poorer self-control and emotional stability Mood swings Poor self-esteem and body image Less time learning other ways to relax and have fun Sources: AACAP, ScienceDirect 32% of people state their behavior is influenced by the screen time they get. However, the highest percentage of people still claim screen time doesn’t affect them. Behavior is influencedby screen time32%Behavior is maybeinfluenced by screen time15.5%Behavior is NOTinfluenced by screen time52.4%(ResearchGate) 14- to 17-year-olds with more than 7-hour screen time are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety. Or have already been treated by a mental health professional. Source: ScienceDirect What’s the average screen time by age? Here’s the average screen time by age and gender in 2022: Age groupAvg. femalescreen timeAvg. malescreen time16-247h 54min7h 19min25-347h 13min7h 2min35-446h 32min6h 38min45-546h 7min6h 3min55-645h 45min5h 26min(DataReportal) Internet screen time growth Internet screen time growth over time. A table of internet screen time growth by quarters: Time periodScreen time growthin that time periodQ4 2021 – Q1 2022-1%Q3 2021 – Q4 2021-1%Q3 2020 – Q3 2021+1%Q3 2019 – Q3 2020+4%Q3 2018 – Q3 2019-2.5%Q3 2017 – Q3 2018+0.5%Q3 2016 – Q3 2017+4.4%Q3 2015 – Q3 2016+2.4%Q3 2014 – Q3 2015-0.8%Q3 2013 – Q3 2014+3.8%(DataReportal) (DataReportal 2) Read more about average internet usage here. What age groups spend the most time in front of the screen? Youngsters (ages 16-24) spend the most time on the internet in 2022. An average user in that group clocks 7 hours and 36 minutes per day. With age, internet time slowly declines. Source: DataReportal Elderly above 60 years are spending more time in front of the screens than 10 years ago. At the beginning of the century, only 14% of the elderly were internet users. Now there are more than 75%, which shows why they spend more time online. Also, more than 61% of the elderly are already smartphone users. Sources: PEW 2, PEW 3, PEW 4 How did the pandemic impact screen time? During the pandemic, screen time has largely increased in primary-aged children, up to 1.39 hours on average. Next were adults with a 0.96-hour increase. Table of screen time increase during pandemic: Age groupScreen time increaseduring pandemicLeisure screen timeincrease during pandemicAdults+0.96 hours+0.72 hoursAdolescents +0.91 hours+0.48 hoursPrimary-aged children+1.39 hours+1.04 hoursYoung children+0.59 hours+0.61 hours(The Lancet) 51% of adults spend more time in front of the screens during the pandemic, while 7% reported a decrease. Age groupReportedincreaseNo changeDecreaseAdults51%39%7%Children67%27%4%Adults(Leisure)52%38%7%Children(Leisure)59%30%9%(The Lancet) Screen time has increased worldwide during the pandemic by 12 minutes on average. CountryScreen timein January 2020Screen timein October 2020IncreasePhilippines9h 45min10h 2min+17minSouth Africa9h 22min9h 39min+17minBrazil9h 17min9h 34min+17minColombia9h 10min9h 26min+16minThailand9h 1min9h 17min+16minArgentina8h 47min9h 3min+16minMexico8h 21min8h 36min+15minIndonesia7h 59min8h 13min+14minMalaysia7h 57min8h 11min+14minTaiwan7h 57min8h 11min+14minUK5h 28min5h 38min+10minSwitzerland5h 27min5h 37min+10minAustria5h 25min5h 35min+10minSouth Korea5h 22min5h 32min+10minBelgium5h 9min5h 18min+9minFrance5h 8min5h 17min+9minDenmark5h 7min5h 16min+9minGermany4h 52min5h 1min+9minNetherlands4h 37min4h 45min+8minJapan4h 22min4h 30min+8min(Lenstore) Around 76% of people between 16 and 24 increased their mobile usage during the pandemic. Laptop usage increased by 45%, watching TV by 34%, and tablet time by 22%. Source: Lenstore The share of children that spent more than 6-7 hours in front of the screen increased by 13% during lockdowns. Table of children’s daily screen time before & during pandemic: Daily children’sscreen timeBeforepandemicDuringpandemic0-1 hours16%12%2-3 hours44%19%4-5 hours23%28%6-7 hours7%20%8-9 hours4%11%9+ hours6%11%(Statista 2) (Statista 3) How did the pandemic impact screen time for kids and teenagers? Gadget usage among children between the ages of 5 to 10 has increased by 27% during the pandemic. Overall, the usage of electronics has increased by 23% among children aged 0-17. Table of gadget usage before & during pandemic by age group: Age groupGadget usagebefore pandemicGadget usageduring pandemic0-4 years13%26%5-10 years17%44%11-13 years23%47%14-17 years32%62%Total average21%44%(eMarketer 2) Average mobile/phone screen time in the US? On average, people spend 4 hours and 48 minutes using smartphones in 2022. YearAverage daily mobile screen time20224h 48min20214h 10min20203h 40min(DataReportal 3) Average phone screen time by country Brazilians use their mobile phones the most, clocking at 5 hours and 26 minutes daily. Closely followed by Indonesians at 5 hours and 25 minutes. CountryAverage mobilescreen timeBrazil5h 26minIndonesia5h 25minSouth Korea4h 59minMexico4h 49minIndia4h 44minJapan4h 34minSingapore4h 27minTurkey4h 24minCanada4h 22minUSA4h 9minRussia4h 8minUK3h 59minAustralia3h 53minArgentina3h 37minFrance3h 33minGermany3h 22minChina3h 10minWorldwide4h 48min(DataReportal 2) How often do people check their phones? In the US, people check their phones every 4 minutes. That’s 344 times a day or 2,408 times a week. Source: Reviews Nearly 71% of Americans check their phone in the span of 10 minutes after waking up. 48% of people feel anxiety when their phone’s battery drops below 20%, while 74% of Americans don’t feel well leaving their phones at home. 35% of people look at their phones while driving 43% of people look at their phones during romantic dates Source: Reviews Average computer screen time in the US Americans spend 3 hours and 34 minutes daily browsing the web on a computer in 2022. Here’s the table of how much an average person spend in front of computer screens in the US: YearAverage computerscreen time20223h 34min20213h 58min20204h20194h 7min(DataReportal 3) Average worldwide computer screen time On average, people worldwide spend 42 minutes per day on computers. YearAverage computer screen time worldwide202137min202038min201939min201839min201742min201640min201542min201447min201349min201247min201143min(Statista 4) Average social media screen time in the US? Americans spend 2 hours and 14 minutes browsing social media daily in 2022. Worldwide, the number is slightly higher at 2 hours and 27 minutes per day. Here’s a table of the average social media screen time in the US vs. global: YearSocial mediascreen time in the USSocial mediascreen time worldwide20222h 14min2h 27min20212h 7min2h 25min20202h 3min2h 24min20192h 4min2h 16min(DataReportal 3) Americans spend the most time checking Facebook. They check Instagram almost half as much. Daily usagein minutes20222021202020192018Facebook21min21min22min21min22minInstagram12min11min11min10min9minSnapchat7min7min7min7min6minTikTok7min7min7min2min1minTwitter6min6min6min5min4minOther12min12min12min12min11min(eMarketer 3) Read more on social media addiction here. Average social media screen time by country? Philippinians spend the most time on social media apps, whereas Japanese spend the least. CountryAvg. social mediascreen timePhilippines3h 52minBrazil3h 49minKenya3h 47minSouth Africa3h 45minColombia3h 44minNigeria3h 38minMorocco3h 34minMexico3h 25minArgentina3h 21minIndonesia3h 16minUAE3h 11minSaudi Arabia3h 10minGhana3h 5minTurkey3h 3minEgypt2h 57minMalaysia2h 55minThailand2h 51minIndia2h 38minPortugal2h 32minRomania2h 32minVietnam2h 31minRussia2h 24minSingapore2h 17minUSA2h 13minHong Kong2h 4minAustralia2h 2minGreece2h 2minChina2h 1minCanada1h 59minIreland1h 59minPoland1h 59minTaiwan1h 58minNew Zealand1h 56minSpain1h 56minSweden1h 55minUK1h 53minItaly1h 50minDenmark1h 47minFrance1h 47minCzechia1h 44minBelgium1h 41minNetherlands1h 41minGermany1h 38minSwitzerland1h 27minAustria1h 24minSouth Korea1h 16minJapan47minWorldwide2h 29min(DataReportal) Females are more engaged in social media than males in all age groups. Here’s the table comparing female and male social media screen times: Age groupFemale social mediadaily screen timeMale social mediadaily screen time16-24 years3h 13min2h 43min25-34 years2h 50min2h 34min35-44 years2h 27min2h 15min45-54 years2h 3min1h 48min55-64 years1h 33min1h 18min(DataReportal) Social media screen time has been slowly going up, increasing by 51.2% from 2013 to 2021. Here’s the table of social media screen times by year: Quarter ofthe yearAverage social mediascreen timeDifferenceQ1 20222h 29min0%Q4 20212h 29min+0.7%Q3 20212h 27min+1.4%Q3 20202h 25min0%Q3 20192h 25min+2.1%Q3 20182h 22min+5.2%Q3 20172h 15min+5.5%Q3 20162h 8min+15.3%Q3 20151h 51min+5.7%Q3 20141h 45min+8.2%Q3 20131h 37min(DataReportal) (DataReportal 2) How do Americans spend screen time? Daily, an average American spends 2 hours and 13 minutes on social media, 3 hours watching TV, and 4 hours and 9 minutes on phone usage. Average American daily screen time: Social mediaTVPhone2 hours and 13 minutes3 hours4 hours and 9 minutes(DataReportal) (Statista 5) Sources: DataReportal, Statista 5 Read more: Technology Addiction Statistics Video Streaming Services Market Share, Subscribers, Growth HBO Max subscriber numbers Conclusion: Screen Time Statistics These were the most in-depth screen time statistics. It’s quite fascinating how much time we spend in front of the screen without knowing it. Screen time also vastly varies between countries and demographics. Even pandemics can negatively impact screen time, especially in children. What is your daily screen time? Did it increase during the pandemic? What contributes to your screen time the most: work, social media, TV? Please let us know in the comments. Sources: DataReportal, DataReportal 2, DataReportal 3, Statista, Statista 2, Statista 3, Statista 4, Statista 5, eMarketer, eMarketer 2, eMarketer 3, Pew, Pew 2, Pew 3, Pew 4, CDC, NIH, AAP, AACAP, ScienceDirect, ResearchGate, The Lancet, Lenstore, Reviews
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