18 Average Screen Time Statistics [2023]: How Much Screen Time Is Too Much?

Research Summary: Have you ever wondered how much time you spend on your phone or computer per day? Considering the fact that we use our phones for work, the news, entertainment, and more, you may be surprised to learn just how much time the average American spends staring at a screen.

To learn more about average screen time in the US, we’ve gathered an extensive list of relevant statistics. According to our extensive research:

• The average American spends 7 hours and 4 minutes staring at a screen per day.

• Globally, the average screen time per day is 6 hours 58 minutes.

• Americans spend an average of 3 hours and 43 minutes on their phone per day.

• Experts recommend less than 2 hours of screen time per day.

• Daily screen time peaked at 7.7 hours daily during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

For further analysis, we broke down the data in the following ways:
Device | Age | Location | Health

Screen Time by Device Statistics

There are many reasons why we might overdo our screen time. From being sucked into a 3-hour TikTok binge on our phones to needing to play “just one more turn” on that new computer game, different devices can impact our overall screen time. For example:

• Americans spend an average of 34% of their screen time watching TV.

  

  While this is down from previous years, it’s still more than double that of any other activity. For example, Americans only spend an average of 16% of their screen time playing video games and 14% watching movies.

  Distribution of American Screen Time

  Activity	Share of total screen time
  TV	34%
  Video games	16%
  Movies	14%
  Online videos	12%
  Social media	9%
  Other	9%
  E-books	6%

• The average American teen spends 3 hours and 16 minutes per day watching TV and videos.

  TV still reigns supreme, even for younger generations, though many also spend a considerable amount of time gaming and browsing social media.

  Hourly Distribution of Screen Time For American Teens

  Activity	Hours of screen time per day
  TV and videos	3 hours 16 mins
  Video games	1 hour 46 mins
  Social media	1 hour 27 mins
  Browsing websites	51 mins
  Other	29 mins
  Video chatting	20 mins
  E-books	15 mins
  Content creation	14 mins

• Globally, the average person spends 3 hours and 30 minutes on their phone per day.

  This is slightly less than the American average of 3 hours and 43 minutes but still equates to the average person around the world spending nearly 15% of their entire day staring at their phone.

• 60.28% of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices.

  That’s up over 250% from 2013, when only 17% of all internet traffic came from mobile devices. Overall, the growth of mobile traffic was steady through 2017 and then picked up again in 2020.

  Mobile Internet Traffic Over Time

  Year	Share of total internet traffic
  2013	17.02%
  2014	28.97%
  2015	37.24%
  2016	45.91%
  2017	54.09%
  2018	53.01%
  2019	52.26%
  2020	53.07%
  2021	56.53%
  2022	59.40%
  2023	60.28%

• People spend an average of 45.8 minutes using TikTok per day.

  TikTok is the new social media app champion when it comes to screen time, but YouTube is still a close runner-up with an average of 45.6 minutes of screen time per day.

  Average Screen Time By Social Media App

  Social media app	Average daily screen time
  TikTok	45.8 mins
  YouTube	45.6 mins
  Twitter	34.8 mins
  Snapchat	30.4 mins
  Facebook	30.1 mins
  Instagram	30.1 mins
  Reddit	23.8 mins

Average Screen Time by Age

As it so happens, younger demographics tend to have more screen time than older ones. To find out more about the correlation between age and average screen time, here are some key statistics:

• Gen Z spends an average of 7 hours and 18 minutes looking at screens per day.

  Younger generations spend exceptionally long hours staring at screens when compared to older generations. For example, Baby Boomers have an average daily screen time of only 2 hours and 54 minutes.

  Average Screen Time By Generation

  Generation	Average daily screen time
  Gen Z	7 hours 18 mins
  Millennials	6 hours 42 mins
  Gen X	6 hours
  Baby Boomers	2 hours 54 mins
  Silent Generation	2 hours 48 mins

• Children aged 8-10 have an average screen time of 8 hours per day.

  Children spend more time on devices than you might think, with even zero to two-year-olds having almost an hour of screen time per day.

  Child Screen Time By Age

  Age range	Average daily screen time
  0-2 years	49 mins
  2-4 years	2 hours 30 minutes
  5-8 years	3 hours
  8-10 years	6 hours

• Average childhood screen time increased by an estimated 52% during the pandemic.

  Before the COVID-19 pandemic, children spent an average of 2 hours and 42 minutes staring at screens per day. This number jumped up to 4 hours and 6 minutes during the pandemic.

Average Screen Time by Location

Different countries have different screen time habits, as it’s easy to imagine a country with rural farmland would have less screen time than one that’s essentially one big city. Here are some key facts about screen time by location:

• South Africa has the highest average screen time hours, at 10 hours and 46 mins per day.

  That’s just over an hour shy of half the day, and South Africa isn’t alone. Here is a list of the top five countries by average screen time hours per day:

  Top 5 Countries By Average Daily Screen Time

  Country	Average daily screen time
  South Africa	10 hours 46 mins
  Philippines	10 hours 27 mins
  Brazil	10 hours 19 mins
  Colombia	10 hours 3 mins
  Argentina	9 hours 38 mins

• The Philippines has the highest average mobile screen time hours, at 5 hours and 47 minutes per day.

  Mobile phones are the method of choice for screen time in the Philippines, followed by these other countries:

  Top 5 Countries By Average Daily Mobile Screen Time

  Country	Average daily screen time
  Philippines	5 hours 47 mins
  Thailand	5 hours 28 mins
  Brazil	5 hours 25 mins
  South Africa	5 hours 9 mins
  Colombia	5 hours 9 mins

• South Africa also has the highest average computer screen time hours, at 5 hours and 37 minutes per day.

  In general, people are on their computers less than their phones, but this isn’t the case in South Africa. Computers are actually used longer per day on average than phones here. Here are others among the top five countries:

  Top 5 Countries By Average Daily Computer Screen Time

  Country	Average daily screen time
  South Africa	5 hours 37 mins
  Brazil	4 hours 54 mins
  Columbia	4 hours 54 mins
  Philippines	4 hours 40 mins
  Portugal	4 hours 22 mins

Screen Time and Health Statistics

Given that the recommended screen time is only 2 hours per day, it’s worth exploring what experts recommend for our health. Here are some key facts about health and screen time:

• Experts say children ages 6-17 should spend no more than 1-2 hours of screen time per day.

  This is especially true for young children, with experts recommending no screen time whatsoever for children under the age of two. The unfortunate reality is that children under two years old have almost an hour of screen time per day on average, and children eight to ten have more than 6x that.

• 87% of children are exceeding screen time recommendations.

  Unfortunately, the vast majority of US children are overdoing their screen time, which can lead to symptoms like obesity, insomnia, chronic neck and back problems, depression, anxiety, and lower test scores.

Screen Time FAQ

1. What is the average screen time per day?

   The average screen time per day for Americans is 7 hours and 4 minutes. Globally, the average is 6 hours 58 minutes. For the most part, screen time is evenly split between mobile and computer usage, with most countries having higher average hours for mobile screen time.

   This is despite the fact that experts only recommend 2 hours of screen time per day or just under 4x less than the average American.

2. How much screen time is too much?

   Experts recommend no more than 2 hours of screen time per day, with anything more being too much. For children between six to 17, the recommended amount is only 1-2 hours, while children six and under shouldn’t have any screen time at all, or at least not over an hour’s worth.

   Too much screen time can cause a whole host of problems, especially in children. Common symptoms include:

   • Headache

   • Blurry vision

   • Brain fog

   • Eye strain

   • Sleep issues (e.g., insomnia)

   • Tantrums

   • Issues with problem-solving skills

   • Obesity

   • Chronic neck and back problems

   • Depression

   • Anxiety

3. What is the average screen time for teenagers?

   The average screen time for teens in the US is over 9 hours per day. That’s nearly half the day and up to 30% more than the average US adult. This issue is leading teens and young adults to develop higher rates of mental illness, sleep issues, and other chronic health concerns.

   And this isn’t looking much better for even younger children, as those between eight to ten spend at least 6 hours on average staring at screens.

4. What is the average screen time by age?

   Generally speaking, average screen time by age goes down as demographics get older. For instance, the average screen time for Gen Z is 7 hours and 18 minutes, while the average screen time for Baby Boomers is only 2 hours and 9 minutes.

   Generation	Average daily screen time
   Gen Z	7 hours 18 mins
   Millennials	6 hours 42 mins
   Gen X	6 hours
   Baby Boomers	2 hours 54 mins
   Silent Generation	2 hours 48 mins

5. What counts as screen time?

   Screen time is any time spent in front of a digital screen. The first thing that comes to mind is often mobile phone use, but the most common example of screen time that you might not think about is watching TV. Here are some other examples of screen time:

   • TV

   • Video games

   • Movies

   • Online videos

   • Social media

   • Other

   • E-books

Conclusion

People in the US and around the world are spending more time on their phones and computers than ever before. Despite the fact that most of us are aware of the detriments of too much screen time, that doesn’t stop the average person from having nearly 4x more screen time than they should.

In fact, average screen time in the US is just over 7 hours per day, and up to 9 hours per day for teens in particular. For children and adults, this amount of screen time can have noticeably negative effects on our physical and mental health.

Experts recommend no more than 2 hours of screen time per day, including TV, mobile phone, and computer usage. Choosing to follow these guidelines will ultimately have a beneficial impact on your health.

References

1. Reid Health – How Much Screen Time is Too Much for Adults?

2. USA Today – Screen time among teenagers during COVID more than doubled outside of virtual school, study finds

3. Marketing Charts – Americans’ Screen Time Activities Evolve Away from TV & Movies

4. Oberlo – What Percentage of Internet Traffic Is Mobile?

5. Oberlo – Average Time Spent on Social Media in 2022 (by Platform)

6. Pew Research Center – Children’s engagement with digital devices, screen time

7. Medscape – Children’s Daily Screen Time Jumped 52% During Pandemic

8. Comparitech – Screen Time Statistics: Average Screen Time in US vs. the rest of the world

9. OSF – Kids’ screen time: How much is too much?

10. University of Albany – Research Spotlight: Study Finds Children Log Excessive Screen-Time

Author

Jack Flynn

Jack Flynn is a writer for Zippia. In his professional career he’s written over 100 research papers, articles and blog posts. Some of his most popular published works include his writing about economic terms and research into job classifications. Jack received his BS from Hampshire College.