Screen Time Statistics Concern

Screen Time Stats 2024

• Globally, people average 6 hours and 40 minutes of screen time per day
• Daily screen time has increased by over 30 minutes per day since 2013
• The average American spends 7 hours and 3 minutes looking at a screen each day
• South Africans spend 9 hours and 24 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

Daily time spent on video games is 15 minutes above average. But time spent on social media is 13 minutes lower than the global average.

Age clearly plays a significant role in screen time consumption as teenagers spend over 3 hours per day watching TV or videos.

Here’s the full breakdown of how the average 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

And looking at this demographic in closer detail, income also plays a notable role in screen time consumption.

Here’s a closer look at 20 of the most active screen time users:

Country	Total Screen Time	Mobile Screen Time	Computer Screen Time
South Africa	9 hours 24 mins	5 hours 15 mins	4 hours 9 mins
Brazil	9 hours 13 mins	5 hours 19 mins	3 hours 54 mins
Philippines	8 hours 52 mins	5 hours 20 mins	3 hours 32 mins
Colombia	8 hours 43 mins	4 hours 47 mins	3 hours 56 mins
Argentina	8 hours 41 mins	4 hours 37 mins	4 hours 5 mins
Chile	8 hours 31 mins	4 hours 48 mins	3 hours 42 mins
Russia	8 hours 21 mins	3 hours 51 mins	4 hours 24 mins
Malaysia	8 hours 17 mins	4 hours 37 mins	3 hours 40 mins
UAE	8 hours 11 mins	4 hours 34 mins	3 hours 38 mins
Egypt	7 hours 55 mins	4 hours 25 mins	3 hours 30 mins
Global Average	6 hours 40 mins	3 hours 50 mins	2 hours 50 mins

Excessive screen time can have very real knock-on effects - especially in children.

Elementary-level school children who watch 2+ hours of screen time per day are more likely to suffer from social, emotional, and attention issues.

On a more positive note, tens of studies have indicated that there is no significant correlation between screen time and academic performance.

However, a whole host of damaging side effects are linked with too much screen time, including:

• Sleep deprivation - Blue light interferes with melatonin production and disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm.
• Obesity - Data shows a strong association between screen time and obesity in children aged 5 to 17, most likely due to the sedentary nature of viewing a screen.
• Susceptibility to Type 2 Diabetes - In the UK, children aged between 9 and 10 who spend 3+ hours on the screen each day were more likely to show resistance to insulin
• Delayed learning - Young children who watch excessive amounts of TV can experience difficulties picking up the language.

In the wider population, limiting social media use to a maximum of 30 minutes each day has been linked with reduced depression and improved well-being.

Sources: People, AIFS, Mayo Clinical Health System, The Journalist’s Resource, Active Health, Quartz

Conclusion

Screens are inextricably linked with modern life. And the ways in which people spend their screen time are always evolving.

Whether the number of time people spend on screens increases, or sees a sudden reversal, remains to be seen.