Whether it's keeping in touch with loved ones, keeping up with the latest news or finding entertainment, it's clear there's plenty to doreasons why people around the world use the internet. Plus, with the amount oftime spent on social mediaincreasing year on year, it should come as no surprise that screen time on the internet has also increased.
How much time does the average person spend on the internet these days?
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How much time do people spend online?
Recent research figuresshows that in the second quarter of 2023, the average time spent on the Internet per person was 401 minutes (six hours and 41 minutes) per day. This was an increase of one minute from the previous quarter and the largest amount of time spent online in more than a year. It also marked an annual increase of four minutes over time spent on the internet in the second quarter of 2022.
The trend of time spent online shows that this is generally decreasing every quarter. In the second quarter of 2021, consumers spent almost seven hours (six hours and 58 minutes) per day online. This remained stable the following quarter, before declining slightly by five minutes to six hours and 53 minutes in the fourth quarter of 2021. From Q2 2021 to Q2 2023, average time spent online peaked in Q2 and Q3 2021.
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On average, internet users worldwide spent 399.3 minutes online every day in 2022. For comparison, the average so far in 2023 is 400.5 minutes – just slightly higher.
Average time spent online, by country
The amount of time spent online varies from country to country. For example, the latest online time statistics show that internet users in South Africa currently spend the most time online. At 569 minutes per day, that's a total of nine hours and 29 minutes and 168 minutes (just over three hours) more than the global average of six hours and 41 minutes.
This is followed by Brazil, where internet users spend 565 minutes online every day, and the Philippines with 547 minutes. The Latin American countries Colombia and Argentina complete the top five with 537 minutes and 528 minutes per day respectively.
On the other end of the spectrum is Japan. People who are online for just 234 minutes every day: almost three full hours less than the global average. This is followed by South Korea and Denmark at 314 minutes and 315 minutes respectively.
