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Revealing Average Screen Time Statistics

Backlinko Team

Written by Backlinko TeamIn collaboration with Semrush

Screen Time Statistics – Blog post image

In today’s digital world, screen time is an essential part of our daily routine.

From checking mail in the morning on a smartphone, to watching videos on the smartphone and doing some focused work on the desktop, screens seem to dominate our attention.

In this post, we’ll explore the latest screen time insights and how it varies depending on the age group, country.

Here’s a summary of what you’ll find out on this page:

Screen Time Statistics (Top Picks)

  • Worldwide, people spend an average of 6 hours and 40 minutes per day on screens.
  • In the US, average screen time per day hit 7 hours and 3 minutes.
  • Nearly half (41%) of American teenagers (13-18) have a screen time of more than 8 hours per day.
  • Entertainment screen time among children in the US has risen from 4 hours 44 minutes in 2019 to 5 hours 33 minutes in 2021.
  • South Africans spend 9 hours 24 minutes on their screens each day (that’s 2 hours 44 minutes more than the global average).

Average Screen Time Worldwide

As of Q3 2023, on average users aged 16 to 64 worldwide spent 6 hours and 40 minutes per day on screens across various devices. That equals to 46 hours and 40 minutes for average screen time per week among worldwide internet users.

Users aged 16 to 64 worldwide spent 6 hours and 40 minutes per day on screens across various devices

On average, daily screen time has declined by 4.3% (18 minutes) since 2021.

Here’s a table with average screen time among worldwide internet users since Q3 2013:

Note: There were changes in methodology for calculating average screen time in 2023 and direct comparison with previous years may not be comparable.
Date Average Screen Time Annual Change
Q3 2013 6 hours 9 minutes N/A
Q3 2014 6 hours 23 minutes +3.7%
Q3 2015 6 hours 20 minutes -0.8%
Q3 2016 6 hours 29 minutes +2.6%
Q3 2017 6 hours 46 minutes +4.3%
Q3 2018 6 hours 48 minutes +0.4%
Q3 2019 6 hours 38 minutes -2.4%
Q3 2020 6 hours 54 minutes +4.2%
Q3 2021 6 hours 58 minutes +0.8%
Q3 2022 6 hours 36 minutes -5.1%
Q3 2023 6 hours 40 minutes N/A

Source: DataReportal

Average Screen Time in the US

Average screen time on internet-connected devices among users in the US is 7 hours and 3 minutes (vs. global average of 6 hours and 40 minutes).

Average screen time on internet-connected devices among users in the US is 7 hours and 3 minutes

On average, screen time in the US remained almost unchanged since 2021 (from 7 hours 4 minutes in 2021 to 7 hours 3 minutes in 2023).

Here’s a table with breakdown of US average screen time since: 2017

Date US Average Screen Time
Q2-Q3 2017 6 hours 30 minutes
Q2-Q3 2018 6 hours 31 minutes
Q3 2019 6 hours 42 minutes
Q3 2020 7 hours 11 minutes
Q3 2021 7 hours 4 minutes
Q3 2022 6 hours 59 minutes
Q3 2023 7 hours 3 minutes

According to Nielsen data (as of Q2 2023), Americans over 18 hours old spend an average of 59 hours and 56 minutes with media per week (which amounts to 8 hours 34 minutes per day).

Media consumption includes use of TV, internet/video on computer, app/web on a smartphone/tablet.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of screen time with media among Americans 18+ grouped by specific media type:

Note: Some values were rounded.
Media Weekly screen time Daily screen time
Total use of TV 32 hours 18 minutes 4 hours 37 minutes
Internet on a computer 4 hours 56 minutes 42 minutes
Video on a computer 1 hour 59 minutes 17 minutes
App/web on a smartphone 16 hours 24 minutes 2 hours 21 minutes
App/web on a tablet 4 hours 19 minutes 37 minutes
Total 59 hours 56 minutes 8 hours 34 minutes

Sources: DataReportal, Nielsen

Screen Time by Age

According to recent data, younger users tend to have more hours of screen time compared to older age groups.

In particular, people aged 16-24 spend 7 hours and 32 minutes on internet-connected devices (among female users) and 7 hours and 4 minutes (among male users) vs. 5 hours and 17 minutes, 5 hours 14 minutes (female; male) among users aged 55-64.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of screen time by age group (data as of Q3 2023):

Age group Female Male
16-24 7 hours 32 minutes 7 hours 7 minutes
25-34 7 hours 3 minutes 7 hours 13 minutes
35-44 6 hours 25 minutes 6 hours 40 minutes
45-54 6 hours 9 minutes 6 hours 5 minutes
55-64 5 hours 17 minutes 5 hours 14 minutes

Earlier study conducted in the UK (with survey launched in March 2020) found a similar connection between age group and average daily screen time. Specifically, younger adults aged 18-34 were reported to have 8.8 hours of screen time per day vs. 5.2 hours among those 65 years old and over.

Another study found that the average weekly recreational screen time in the US among adults in their 20s was 28.5 hours per week in 2020 (that’s up from 25.9 hours per week in 2018)

Sources: DataReportal, National Library of Medicine, MDPI

Screen Time among Children and Teens

Among users aged 8-12 in the US, average entertainment screen time amounted to 5 hours 33 minutes in 2021.

Among users aged 8-12 in the US, average entertainment screen time amounted to 5 hours 33 minutes in 2021

Entertainment screen use includes time spent on watching TV, online videos, social media, browsing websites, reading e-books and creating content.

There has been a reported increase in screen time among tweens (8-12 years old), from 4 hours 36 minutes in 2015 to 5 hours 33 minutes in 2021.

Year Entertainment screen time among users 8-12 years old
2015 4 hours 36 minutes
2019 4 hours 44 minutes
2021 5 hours 33 minutes

Every fifth child (8-12 years old) reported to have more than 8 hours of entertainment screen time per day. Only 5% of users aged 8-12 years reported no screen time.

Screen Time Among Tweens (8-12)

Here’s a detailed breakdown of screen time among tweens (8-12):

Screen time per day 2019 2021
None 8% 5%
2 hours or less 26% 24%
2 hours 1 minute to 4 hours 25% 23%
4 hours 1 minute to 8 hours 26% 27%
More than 8 hours 15% 20%

The same survey found that among teens (13 to 18 years old) in the US, average entertainment screen time reached 8 hours 39 minutes in 2021. That’s up from 7 hours 22 minutes pre-pandemic in 2019.

Here’s a table with entertainment screen time among teens since 2015:

Year Entertainment screen time among users 13-18 years old
2015 6 hours 40 minutes
2019 7 hours 22 minutes
2021 8 hours 39 minutes

When taking a detailed look, more than 4-in-10 teens (13-18) claim to engage with screen media more than 8 hours per day.

Screen Time Among Teenagers (13-18)

Here’s a table with details on screen time among teenagers (13-18) in the US:

Screen time per day 2019 2021
None 4% 3%
2 hours or less 15% 7%
2 hours 1 minute to 4 hours 18% 15%
4 hours 1 minute to 8 hours 33% 34%
More than 8 hours 29% 41%

What’s the breakdown of screen time by activity? Both groups (8-12 years old and 13-18 years old) spend the most on television/videos, 2 hours 40 minutes and 3 hours 16 minutes, respectively.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of screen time accounted for specific activity (data as of 2021):

Daily screen time for specific activity 8-12 years old 13-18 years old
Television, Videos 2 hours 40 minutes 3 hours 16 minutes
Gaming 1 hour 27 minutes 1 hour 46 minutes
Browsing websites 24 minutes 51 minutes
Social media 18 minutes 1 hour 27 minutes
Content creation 8 minutes 14 minutes
Video-chatting 12 minutes 20 minutes
E-reading 9 minutes 15 minutes
Other 15 minutes 29 minutes

Source: Common Sense Media

Screen Time by Country

When it comes to internet-connected screen time, South Africa leads the ranking with 9 hours 24 minutes of average screen time (that’s 2 hours 44 minutes more on top of the global average – 6 hours and 40 minutes).

South Africa leads the ranking with 9 hours 24 minutes of average screen time

Out of 50 counties included in the analysis, users in 9 countries spend over 8 hours on screens.

Here’s a complete list of 15 countries with most screen time (among users 16-64):

Country Average Screen Time Difference with Global Average
South Africa 9 hours 24 minutes +2 hours 44 minutes
Brazil 9 hours 13 minutes +2 hours 33 minutes
Philippines 8 hours 52 minutes +2 hours 12 minutes
Colombia 8 hours 43 minutes +2 hours 3 minutes
Argentina 8 hours 41 minutes +2 hours 1 minute
Chile 8 hours 31 minutes +1 hour 51 minutes
Russia 8 hours 21 minutes +1 hour 41 minutes
Malaysia 8 hours 17 minutes +1 hour 37 minutes
UAE 8 hours 11 minutes +1 hour 31 minutes
Thailand 7 hours 58 minutes +1 hour 18 minutes
Egypt 7 hours 55 minutes +1 hour 15 minutes
Indonesia 7 hours 38 minutes +58 minutes
Mexico 7 hours 37 minutes +57 minutes
Portugal 7 hours 30 minutes +50 minutes
Bulgaria 7 hours 29 minutes +49 minutes

When it comes to the opposite of the ranking, Japanese have the least screen time – 3 hours and 56 minutes, on average. In fact, it’s the only county included in the survey with less than 4 hours of screen time.

Japanese have the least screen time – 3 hours and 56 minutes, on average

Here’s a detailed list of 15 countries with least screen time (among users 16-64):

Country Average Screen Time Difference with Global Average
Japan 3 hours 56 minutes -2 hours 44 minutes
Denmark 5 hours 8 minutes -1 hour 32 minutes
South Korea 5 hours 19 minutes -1 hour 21 minutes
Germany 5 hours 22 minutes -1 hour 18 minutes
France 5 hours 22 minutes -1 hour 18 minutes
Belgium 5 hours 22 minutes -1 hour 18 minutes
Netherlands 5 hours 30 minutes -1 hour 10 minutes
Austria 5 hours 31 minutes -1 hour 9 minutes
Switzerland 5 hours 32 minutes -1 hour 8 minutes
China 5 hours 33 minutes -1 hour 7 minutes
Spain 5 hours 42 minutes -58 minutes
Norway 5 hours 46 minutes -54 minutes
Greece 5 hours 48 minutes -52 minutes
Italy 5 hours 49 minutes -51 minutes
UK 6 hours 2 minutes -38 minutes

Source: DataReportal

Conclusion

That’s it for my collection of screen time statistics.

It’s incredible that we spend nearly half of our waking hours glued to screens whether on a smartphone, desktop, tablet or TV. And as you can see our relationship with media consumption always changes.