Smartphones play a crucial part in day-to-day life whether it be for work purposes, entertainment, shopping, website browsing, etc. Today, the majority of the population across the world owns a phone and with each passing year, the demand for these Smartphones keeps on increasing as the majority of users are addicted to their phones. The average Smartphone usage time today in the US is 5 hours and 24 minutes, in fact in the extreme spectrum some users even tend to use their Smartphones for more than 7 hours.
In this article, we are going to take an in-depth look at Phone usage statistics addressing the time spent on phones, ownership by Age, distribution by region, and much more. So, let’s get started.
Top Smartphone Usage Statistics
- An Average American spends about 5 hours and 24 minutes on their phone every day.
- 57% of Americans consider themselves as “phone addicts.”
- Half of the internet traffic 50.55% comes from mobile phones.
- An Average American checks their phone around 96 times a day.
- 92% of Americans own a smartphone.
- Almost two-thirds of the children spend four or more hours on their phones.
- 75% of Americans find it uneasy to leave their home without their phones.
- Filipinos spend the highest amount of time on their phones every day.
- 60% of people sleep with their phones at night.
- Around 55% of people claim they have never gone longer than 24 hours without their cell phones.
- About 27% of individuals look at their cell phone while driving.
Distribution of Mobile phone ownership by Age
Almost 97% of the American public owns a phone. Users between the age group of 30 to 49 contain the highest phone ownership with 98%.
| Age Group | Phone ownership |
| 13-17 years | 95.0% |
| 18-29 years | 96.0% |
| 30-49 years | 98.0% |
| 50-64 years | 94.0% |
| 65 and over | 92.0% |
Distribution of Smartphone Usage and Habits
- On average, an individual utilizes their phone at least 144 times a day.
- There was a rise in average time spent by users on their phones by 4 hours and 25 minutes per day by 52% from 2022 when the average time spent was 2 hours and 54 minutes per day.
- Some of the most common phone habits include email, photography, social media, internet surfing, etc.
| Activity | Usage |
| 83% | |
| Photography | 83% |
| Internet surfing | 76% |
| Navigation | 73% |
| Online shopping | 71% |
| Social Media | 67% |
| Music or podcast | 66% |
| Short videos, watching clips, and messages | 65% |
| Banking | 60% |
| Video calls | 59% |
Time Spent on Smartphones Yearly
Based on recent data, an average individual spends around 3 hours and 15 minutes on their smartphone per day. 1 out of 5 smartphone users spend around 4.5 hours using their smartphone on average. Surprisingly, users are more likely to utilize their smartphones during the weekdays in comparison to weekends. People check their phones about 58 times a day, and almost 52% of phone checks take place during working hours. Below we have mentioned a detailed table on time spent on smartphones by pick-up:
| Time spent on smartphone | The Average amount of time every day | Percentage of daily pick-ups |
| Less than 2 minutes | 40 | 69% |
| 2 to 10 minutes | 15 | 29% |
| 10+ Minutes | 3 | 5% |
Distribution of time spent on Smartphones by Region
Based on the Q3 2021 data, the Philippines is the top country with the highest time spent on the phone per day. There are a total of 7 countries with more than 5 hours duration spent on phones on a daily basis. Below we have mentioned a table breaking down the top nations with the highest time spent on smartphones:
| Rank | Country | Time Spent on Phone per day |
| 1 | Philippines | 5 hours 47 mins |
| 2 | Thailand | 5 hours 28 mins |
| 3 | Brazil | 5 hours 25 mins |
| 4 | Colombia | 5 hours 9 mins |
| 5 | South Africa | 5 hours 9 mins |
| 6 | Argentina | 5 hours 4 mins |
| 7 | Nigeria | 5 hours 4 mins |
| 8 | Indonesia | 4 hours 56 mins |
| 9 | Malaysia | 4 hours 49 mins |
| 10 | Mexico | 4 hours 37 mins |
Time Spent Using Smartphones By Generation
The Total time spent by a user on their smartphones also depends on the generation the user belongs to. There is no surprise that Gen Z is most likely to top the charts when it comes to phone usage. 3 out of 4 Gen Z have admitted to spending more time on their cell phones than what they would initially like on a daily basis. Here is a table showcasing the total time spent by a user on smartphones based on their generation:
| Generation | On Phone more than preferable | Taking Steps to Reduce Screen Time |
| Baby Boomers | 51.6% | 31.3% |
| Gen X | 66.7% | 40.7% |
| Millennials | 67.3% | 30.5% |
| Gen Z | 76.3% | 41% |
There was another study that claimed that females are more likely to use their phones for a longer duration compared to males. In a sample of 30,000+ people, the average smartphone usage time for a female is around 2 hours and 47 minutes, while for males the average time is 2 hours and 34 minutes.
Teens and Parents’ phone addiction and phone usage statistics
- According to a survey, 47% of parents believe that their children have a phone addiction.
- A teacher survey stated that 67% of students are being negatively distracted by their mobile devices.
- 89% of parents take responsibility for their children’s phone usage addiction.
- Individuals under the age group 18 to 29, 22% of smartphone users, have admitted to checking their phone every few minutes.
- Teens who spend an hour on their smartphones are less likely to exhibit suicide risk factors compared to those teens who spend five or more hours on their phones.
- Adults spend around 45 minutes a day alone scrolling through their social media accounts.
- Of parents surveyed in the United Kingdom, 46% of users state they “feel addicted” to their phones.
- Instead of socializing with their friends in person, around 33% of teens prefer socializing with their friends through online mediums.
- 52% of teens spend most of their time on smartphones while hanging out with their friends and family members.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Phone Usage
The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the increase of phone usage among users as this pandemic forced users to stay indoors in quarantine resulting in people spending more and more time online on their phones trying to entertain themselves and generally pass time such difficult scenario like covid-19. This pandemic also resulted in the introduction of virtual meetings, conferencing, e-commerce sites, etc. Overall, COVID-19 played a quite important role in the rise of phone usage among users across the world.
- During the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, it was registered that Gen Z users had the largest increase in phone usage by 82%. Followed by the second highest registered by Millennials at 72%, then Gen X at 66%, and Baby Boomers at 43%.
- Global phone usage witnessed a growth of 70% during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The countries with the highest growth in smartphone usage during the pandemic were China and the Philippines.
- During the lockdown, the Average call time also witnessed a jump from 3 minutes and 40 seconds to 5 minutes and 26 seconds.
- Lockdown resulted in growth in texting among the users by 37%, video calling by 32%, exploring social media accounts by 36%, and online shopping using apps by 23%.
- It was also reported that Facebook witnessed a growth of 70% in the total number of people accessing Facebook Messenger for group calls.
| Generation | Increase in Phone Usage |
| Gen Z | 82% |
| Millennials | 72% |
| Gen X | 66% |
| Baby Boomers | 43% |
Smartphone usage in the United States
46% of United States users believe they spend 4 to 5 hours on their smartphones on an average per day. Meanwhile, around 22% of users have claimed to spend 3 to 4 hours accessing their phone and 16% have stated they spend around 1 to 2 hours on their phone on a daily basis.
On an extreme spectrum, 11% of users have stated they spend more than 7 hours on their smartphones every day. While only 5%, which is 1 in 20 Americans, use their phone less than an hour on a daily basis.
According to a survey conducted in 2021 with 3000+ Americans it was found that Mississippi has the highest average time spent per capita at 5 hours and 40 minutes. Meanwhile, Ohio had the lowest average screen time per person with 3 hours and 36 minutes per day.
Phone Usage Statistics: Trends and Projections
There is no surprise that with growing technology and new apps being introduced every day the average phone usage will keep on increasing in the future. Let’s take a look at some of the usage trends and predictions regarding phone usage to provide a better closure for the future.
Phone usage is expected to witness growth in the future with a stable 2-3% by 2025.
Regardless 2-3% might not seem like a massive growth, but in reality, it equates to under a billion new users. As of 2023, there are 6.92 billion phone users available worldwide and by 2025 this number is expected to reach 7.34 billion users.
The average amount of time an American spends on their phone apps has witnessed a growth of 25% since 2019.
The average phone usage has witnessed a growth of 30% worldwide with countries like India, Russia, Turkey, and Indonesia playing a crucial role in the growth of phone usage with the highest increase.
There are about 10.37 billion mobile connections globally.
This might come as a major surprise to some users because globally mobile connections have reached 10.37 billion which is 2.46 billion more mobile connections than the actual people available globally.
The total number of smartphone users has witnessed a massive growth of 50% since 2016.
Back in 2016, the total number of smartphone users across the world was only 3.67 billion which was equal to 45% of the population in 2016. However, since 2016 there has been a massive growth in the number of smartphone users, and by 2022, the total number of phone users around the globe will reach 86%.
It is projected that by 2026 the total number of smartphone users will reach 7.52 billion.
Number of smartphone users is expected to witness a 12% growth in coming years, which is quite good considering that the majority of the adult population already has a phone for themselves.
Conclusion
Today, almost everyone seems to own a phone, especially considering the average phone usage of an individual in the US is 5 hours and 24 minutes. It’s clear that most of the users have already become phone addicts in this generation, especially Gen Z. In the coming years, the average number of phone users is expected to witness significant growth and reach 7.52 billion by 2026.
