Statistics · reviewed August 2026 · every figure sourced
Screen time statistics
The reference numbers on how much of the day humanity spends looking at screens — global, by country, by age, and at work. Kept deliberately short: only figures with a primary source attached.
The global picture
| Year | Average daily internet time |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 6 h 42 m |
| 2022 | 6 h 58 m (recent peak) |
| 2024 | 6 h 40 m |
| 2025 | 6 h 38 m |
Survey-based, ages 16–64, all devices; television and offline gaming are extra. Years shown are ones we could verify directly in the published reports.
By country
| Country | Daily internet time (2024) |
|---|---|
| South Africa | 9 h 24 m |
| Brazil | 9 h 13 m |
| Philippines | 8 h 52 m |
| United States | 7 h 03 m |
| World average | 6 h 40 m |
| Japan | 3 h 56 m |
The spread is enormous — the average South African internet user spends more than 5 waking hours a day longer online than the average Japanese user. Wealth doesn't predict restraint; Japan is the outlier in the other direction.
Children and teenagers (United States)
These figures are entertainment only — schoolwork on screens is on top. Source: Common Sense Media census (2021 wave). For what this scale of exposure may mean for growing eyes, see myopia statistics.
Adults at work
Screen load isn't a teenage problem. Most knowledge work is now screen work, and the best-documented occupational effect is digital eye strain (computer vision syndrome): reviews put its prevalence at ≈50% or more of computer users (Sheppard & Wolffsohn, BMJ Open Ophthalmology, 2018) — dryness, blur and headaches from long uninterrupted near focus.
Frequency compounds duration: a widely cited usage study logged an average of 2,617 phone touches per person per day (dscout research, 2016), with heavy users above 5,000. Every touch is a context switch.
- Office counter-moves that cost nothing: the grayscale toggle, scheduled blockers for 9-to-5 focus, and regular far-focus breaks.
- For freelancers and founders, the calculator is a budgeting tool: hours are the one non-renewable input.
Citing this page
Journalists, teachers and researchers are welcome to cite or reproduce these figures with attribution. Suggested format:
LessPix. "Screen Time Statistics." lesspix.com, reviewed Aug 2026. https://lesspix.com/stats/screen-time/
Every figure above links to its primary source — citing the original study alongside us is even better.
Sources
- DataReportal — Digital Global Overview report series (with GWI). datareportal.com
- Common Sense Media — The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2021. commonsensemedia.org
- Sheppard AL, Wolffsohn JS. Digital eye strain: prevalence, measurement and amelioration. BMJ Open Ophthalmology. 2018. doi
- dscout — Mobile touches research, 2016. dscout.com