A new report from Ofcom has revealed the shockingly high amount of time the average Brit spends scrolling on their smartphone each day.
According to the regulator, the average person now spends 4.5 hours glued to their devices every day.
That is 10 minutes more than last year, and over a quarter of our waking lives.
Around three–quarters of that time is spent on smartphones, where the average Briton now uses 41 different apps every month.
But it is women who are the biggest screen addicts, spending 26 minutes longer online than men for a total of four hours and 43 minutes daily.
And, perhaps unsurprisingly, the younger generations spend significantly more time online than their older counterparts.
Digital native Gen Z, aged 18 to 24, now spend a staggering six hours and 20 minutes online every day.
That includes a whopping five hours and six minutes spent staring at smartphones.
From the peak at age 24, Britons tend to spend less time online as they get older.
People aged 25 to 34 spend an impressive five hours and 19 minutes online each day, which falls to just four hours and 36 minutes by the ages of 35–44.
Older Britons typically spend less time on their devices, but over–65s still clock up three hours and 20 minutes online every day.
This group is also the biggest fans of tablets, spending 51 minutes on iPads and other large devices daily.
While adults are using a wider variety of apps than ever, over half the time we spend on our phones is now dedicated to services owned by either Meta or Alphabet.
Guy Holcroft, Head of Audience Measurement at Ofcom, told Daily Mail: ‘Some of the most used social media and messaging platforms continue to get bigger, for example, WhatsApp, YouTube and TikTok.
‘Most people use WhatsApp every day, and YouTube is widely used on all screens, including the TV set.’
YouTube is used by 94 per cent of all adults for an average of 51 minutes every day.
Meanwhile, the Meta–owned services Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are used by 93 per cent and 90 per cent of adults, respectively.
Although we are spending more and more time online, people are also finding the internet more unpleasant.
This year, just 30 per cent of adults said they feel that the internet is good for society, down from 40 per cent last year.
While 65 per cent of adults still say that the personal benefits of being online outweigh the risks, this has steadily declined from 71 per cent just two years ago.
Likewise, over two–thirds of adults said they had encountered something harmful or upsetting online in the last month.
But it isn’t just adults who are spending more of their lives online.
Ofcom’s report shows that children as young as eight years old are spending hours every day on smartphones, computers, and tablets.
Young children between eight and 14 years old now spend almost three hours a day online, not including time spent on games consoles.
The average Briton now spends four and a half hours online every day, with three–quarters of that time being spent on smartphones (stock image)
Children between 13 and 14 are among the UK’s most avid internet users, spending four hours a day online.
Just like their adult counterparts, 13 to 14–year–old girls spend almost an hour longer online than boys, totalling four hours and 28 minutes every day.
Among children, the four most popular apps are YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, and WhatsApp.
YouTube and Snapchat alone account for more than half of children’s time online, with children spending about 45 minutes on each.
This comes amid growing concerns that children – especially teenage girls – are facing severe mental health impacts from exposure to social media.
Social media companies have been accused of ignoring a rise in childhood mental health issues and deliberately making products that maximise engagement at the cost of their users’ well–being.
Last year, the Millennium Cohort study revealed 48 per cent of 16 to 18–year–olds felt they had lost control over how much time they spent online.
Concerningly for parents, Ofcom’s data also shows that children are spending more time on social media at night.
YouTube remains one of the UK’s favourite online pastimes, with 94 per cent of adults using the service for an average of 51 minutes every day
Across the most popular services, up to a quarter of all use happens between 21:00 and 05:00 am, with 10 per cent of use happening after 23:00 for some apps.
Studies have shown that using social media shortly before going to bed can lead to poor sleep patterns, falling academic achievement, and poor mental health.
Despite this, Ofcom’s report shows that children feel significantly more positive about the state of the internet than adults.
Overall, nine in 10 children aged eight to 17 said they were happy with the things they did online.
Likewise, a further 70 per cent of under–18s said they go online to support their wellbeing.
Mr Holcroft says: ‘Many of the positive benefits children get from being online include helping them to relax, improving their mood, learning about the world and building social connections.
‘However, there are downsides with being connected; seven in ten secondary school–age children told us they have seen harmful content online, in particular bullying and hate content.’
