Revealed: The exact amount of time the average Brit spends scrolling on their smartphone every day – with women spending 33 minutes more time than men

A new survey has revealed how much time the average Brit spends scrolling on their phone every day.

But the results show there are big differences between how long men and women spend online and what they do with their devices.

Ofcom’s Online Nation report shows that the average Briton spends four hours and 20 minutes online every day – around a quarter of their waking life.

However, it is women who use the internet most enthusiastically, spending an average of 33 minutes more time than men.

In total, women spend four hours and 36 minutes online per day, while men spend four hours and three minutes online per day, the new report shows.

This difference is most pronounced among phone-obsessed Gen Z women, who spend more than an hour longer online than their male counterparts.

Women aged 18 to 24 spend a whopping six hours and 36 minutes online, compared to five hours and 28 minutes for men of the same age.

However, the study also found that men spend much more time accessing generative AI, using online dating and watching pornography.

An Ofcom spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘This report takes a deep dive into what people do online, and we were struck by the gender gaps in the data – and by women’s different experiences of life online.’

Ofcom’s latest edition of its annual Online Nation report collects data from across the country to see exactly how people are spending their time online.

The results show that Generation Z (18-24 years) spend the most time online of all age groups, using the internet an hour longer than those aged 25-34.

The average person aged 18 to 24 spent just over six hours online in 2024, compared to just four hours and three minutes for someone aged 45 to 54.

Much of Gen Z’s online time has been dominated by TikTok, which is used by three-quarters of 18-25 year olds.

The average woman aged 18 to 25 spent an hour and 17 minutes on the short video app every day, while men of the same age spent 35 minutes less.

Overall, the over-65s were the least enthusiastic internet users in Britain; they spent just three hours and ten minutes online every day.

However, women spend more time online than men, regardless of how old they are.

Generation Z spent more time online than any other generation, spending more than six hours every day on smartphones, tablets and computers. TikTok was one of the most popular internet services, with the average woman aged 16 to 25 spending more than an hour on the app every day

Previous research has found that many young adults in Britain now struggle to avoid looking at their phones for an hour

Three quarters of the UK’s time online is spent on smartphones, with the average person spending three hours and fifteen minutes on their phone every day.

Tablets and computers each accounted for half an hour of the average internet user’s remaining screen time.

Additionally, the research found that there is a growing divide in the types of content and sites that men and women access online.

When it comes to the top 10 social media sites, women make up the majority of users on Pinterest, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

On Pinterest in particular, female users accounted for 79 percent of all time spent on the site.

On the other hand, men are responsible for most of the time they spend on Quora, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Men are also by far the most avid consumers of internet pornography in Britain, making up 73 percent of the total adult audience.

In May 2024, 13.8 million British adults accessed a service with pornographic content, with the average person spending one hour and 33 minutes per month.

Ofcom found that Pornhub remains the most popular service for pornographic content, visited by 18 percent of UK online adults.

Ofcom’s research found that people aged 18 to 25 were the most active internet users. Previous research has shown that almost 100 percent of young people now have a phone by the time they turn 18

Men of all ages spent less time online but were much more active users of AI, online dating services and pornography (stock photo)

An Ofcom spokesperson said: ‘Although women generally engage more intensively with the online world, they are more likely than men to feel they have a good balance between their screen time and real-world activities.

‘But they are also more skeptical about the personal and social value of the Internet, because they are less likely than men to think that the benefits of the online world outweigh the risks, and less likely to believe that the Internet is a good thing for society. .’

When it came to actual online experiences, Ofcom found that women were more likely to receive unwanted friend requests and encounter misogynistic content.

Teen girls in particular were more likely than boys to experience content that promoted unhealthy exercise or eating habits and eating disorder-related content.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: ‘It is not right that women and girls are targets of online harassment, misogynistic abuse and disturbing threats.

‘They have less confidence in their online safety than men, and are less able to have a voice or share opinions online.

In February, Ofcom will publish detailed guidance on how it expects tech companies to take action to protect women and girls online.

The spokesperson added: ‘We want to see a concerted focus from across the industry on making online life safer for women and girls.’

What is smartphone addiction?

Currently, smartphone addiction is not officially recognized by psychologists as a separate mental condition, such as depression or bipolar disorder.

However, the term has now become much more accepted as scientists warn of a worrying rise in cases.

Recent studies have suggested that more than a quarter of the world’s population suffers from smartphone addiction, while the figures in countries such as China and Saudi Arabia could be as high as 70 percent.

A Pew Research Center survey also found that 95 percent of British teenagers said they were online ‘almost all the time’.

However, several leading researchers suggest that this could be stretching the term “addiction” a little too far.

Professor Mark Griffiths, a leading expert on internet addiction from Nottingham Trent University, told MailOnline: ‘There is a difference between problematic smartphone use and addictive smartphone use.’

Even if you spend hours on your phone every day and feel like you just can’t put your phone down, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re addicted.

Researchers say smartphone addiction is becoming increasingly common around the world. Scientists have found that China, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have the highest smartphone usage, while Germany and France have the lowest

Previous studies have shown that problematic smartphone use has generally increased around the world. However, many people may have problematic use but are not completely addicted

Addiction, unlike problematic use, changes our behavior at the neurological level and deeply entrenches compulsive and dependent behavior.

“Most children would never meet my criteria for being addicted to a smartphone,” says Professor Griffiths.

“Even though many of them will experience problematic use, which will clearly have detrimental effects on their lives.”

Professor Griffiths added: ‘When I assess smartphone addiction, I use the word addiction in exactly the same way as I would apply it to heroin, alcohol or any other drug.’

Similarly, Dr Daria Kuss, a chartered psychologist and expert on addictive behavior from Nottingham Trent University, told MailOnline: ‘Smartphone addiction is a psychological condition in which a user develops symptoms traditionally associated with substance dependence.’