Average Screen Time Statistics & Facts (Usage)

Did you know people spend 6 hours 58 minutes on screens everyday? Find more screen time statistics below.

steven zauderer
Steven Zauderer
July 21, 2023
5
min read

Average Screen Time Usage Statistics 2023

  • People have 6 hours 58 minutes of screen time per day.
  • Daily screen time has increased by almost 50 minutes per day since 2013.
  • The average American spends 7 hours and 4 minutes looking at a screen each day.
  • Worldwide, the average user spends 2 hours and 51 minutes looking at their computer screens and 3 hours and 46 minutes looking at their mobiles.
  • On average, 90.9% of people will use the internet to stream their favorite TV shows and movies.
  • South Africans spend 10 hours and 46 minutes on screen per day.
  • Almost half (49%) of 0 to 2-year-olds interact with smartphones.
  • Gen Z averages around 9 hours of screen time per day.
  • The biggest screen-time consumers are located in Africa, Asia, and South America.

Screen Time Statistics: Average Screen Time in US vs. The Rest of The World

Worldwide, the average person spends a total of 6 hours and 37 minutes looking at a screen each day (for internet-connected activities). The average American spends 7 hours looking at a screen each day. According to data from DataReportal, the average American spends 6 hours and 59 minutes looking at a screen every day.

average-daily-screen-time-min.png

Here’s an overview of the average internet-connected screen time since 2013:

Year Average Screen Time Change Over Previous Year
Q3 2013 6 hours 9 minutes -
Q3 2014 6 hours 23 minutes ↑ 3.8%
Q3 2015 6 hours 20 minutes ↓ 0.8%
Q3 2016 6 hours 29 minutes ↑ 2.4%
Q3 2017 6 hours 46 minutes ↑ 4.4%
Q3 2018 6 hours 48 minutes ↑ 0.5%
Q3 2019 6 hours 38 minutes ↓ 2.5%
Q3 2020 6 hours 54 minutes ↑ 4%
Q3 2021 6 hours 58 minutes ↑ 1%

The average person spends up to 40% of their waking hours looking at a screen.

Source: Data Reportal, Data Reportal, DigitalInformationWorld

US Average Screen Time

The average screen time in the United States is 7 hours 4 minutes per day, that's 7 minutes more than the global average according to Comparitech data.

us-screen-time-min.webp

Here’s the full breakdown of how the average US teen distributes their daily screen time:

Activity Average Daily Screen Time
Watching TV/Videos 3 hours 16 mins
Gaming 1 hour 46 mins
Social Media 1 hour 27 mins
Browsing Websites 51 mins
Other 29 mins
Video Chatting 20 mins
E-reading 15 mins
Content Creation 14 mins

Sources: Comparitech

Screen Time Changes Over Time

Here’s the rate of change between average screen time in 2021 and 2022 for these countries:

Country Change in Screen Time
United Arab Emirates ↑ 1.12
Turkey ↑ 0.44
India ↑ 0.42
South Africa ↑ 0.39
Portugal ↑ 0.37
Egypt ↑ 0.26
Saudi Arabia ↑ 0.21
Thailand ↑ 0.21
Canada ↑ 0.19
Belgium ↑ 0.16
Brazil ↑ 0.11
Sweden ↑ 0.06
Switzerland ↑ 0.04
Ireland ↑ 0.01
Japan ↑ 0.01
Australia - 0
Taiwan - 0
Argentina ↓ 0.01
Israel ↓ 0.02
Russia ↓ 0.02
Austria ↓ 0.04
Colombia ↓ 0.04
Poland ↓ 0.04
Germany ↓ 0.05
China ↓ 0.06
Mexico ↓ 0.06
Malaysia ↓ 0.07
Spain ↓ 0.07
United States of America ↓ 0.07
South Korea ↓ 0.08
Vietnam ↓ 0.09
France ↓ 0.12
Italy ↓ 0.12
Denmark ↓ 0.13
United Kingdom ↓ 0.13
Indonesia ↓ 0.15
New Zealand ↓ 0.17
Romania ↓ 0.17
Netherlands ↓ 0.18
Hong Kong ↓ 0.29
Philippines ↓ 0.29
Singapore ↓ 0.38

Average Screen Time By Region

Screen time varies significantly by region. According to recent records from 43 nations, South Africa is the country with the most screen time consumption per day.

Average Screen Time Allocation Per Day

Below are figures for global average screen time allocation per day:

Screen Time Allocation Q3 2020 Q3 2021 2020-2021 Change
Using Internet 6 hours 54 mins 6 hours 58 mins ↑ 1% (4 mins)
Watching TV (inc. streaming) 3 hours 24 mins 3 hours 20 mins ↓ 2% (4 mins)
Using Social Media 2 hours 25 mins 2 hours 27 mins ↑ 1.4% (2 mins)
Using a Games Console 1 hour 11 mins 1 hour 12 mins ↑ 1.4% (1 min)

Screen Time By Age

Age is an important factor in screen time consumption. Around 3 in 4 of parents with a child aged 2 or younger claim their child watches TV.

Unfortunately, 90% of older children spend time watching a TV screen.

Impact Of Screen Time

Data from a survey of 2,000+ US adults showed that less than 50% the time spent on screens is believed to be productive.