Time Spent on Social Media Statistics: 2025 Snapshot

Social media still takes a huge share of daily digital life. DataReportal’s Digital 2025 report says there are now 5.24 billion active social media user identities worldwide, and the typical internet user spends 2 hours and 21 minutes per day on social platforms. That is slightly below the 2 hours and 23 minutes reported in the 2024 global report, which suggests overall usage has stayed very high even as growth in time spent has cooled.

In the 2024 dataset, social media accounted for 35.8% of all online time, and DataReportal estimated that humanity would spend a combined 500 million years on social platforms during 2024. That helps explain why even small changes in daily averages matter at global scale.

Key time spent on social media statistics

• The global average was 2 hours and 23 minutes per day in DataReportal’s 2024 deep dive, and 2 hours and 21 minutes per day in the 2025 global overview.
• Kenya led the country ranking in the 2024 deep dive at 3 hours and 43 minutes per day, followed by South Africa at 3 hours and 41 minutes, Brazil at 3 hours and 37 minutes, and the Philippines at 3 hours and 34 minutes.
• Japan was the low end of the same country comparison at 53 minutes per day, while South Korea was at 1 hour and 6 minutes.
• Across the EU and UK, average social media time was 1 hour and 48 minutes per day, which was 35 minutes below the global average in that report.
• Women aged 16 to 24 spend the most time on social media globally at just under 3 hours per day, while men aged 55 to 64 were at 1 hour and 31 minutes in the 2024 deep dive.
• Gallup found that U.S. teens averaged 4.8 hours per day across seven major social media apps, and 51% said they spend at least four hours per day on social media.
• In the same Gallup study, 17-year-olds averaged 5.8 hours per day, compared with 4.1 hours for 13-year-olds.
• Teen girls averaged 5.3 hours per day, versus 4.4 hours for teen boys.
• Among U.S. teens, Gallup found average daily app time of 1.9 hours on YouTube, 1.5 hours on TikTok, and 0.9 hours on Instagram.
• DataReportal’s 2024 platform comparison showed TikTok users averaging 34 hours per month on the Android app, ahead of YouTube at 28 hours and 5 minutes and Facebook at 19 hours and 47 minutes.
• DataReportal’s 2025 report says the typical TikTok Android user spent almost 35 hours on the app in November 2024, while U.S. users spent almost 44 hours per month.
• Pew’s 2024 U.S. teen survey found that nearly half of teens say they are online almost constantly, which helps explain why teen social media time remains a major focus for researchers and parents.

Daily social media time by selected geographies

The widest public country gaps are striking. In the 2024 DataReportal country comparison, Kenya and South Africa were both above 3 hours 40 minutes per day, while Japan was below 1 hour. The EU and UK sat well below the global average.

Max = 223. Widths: Kenya 100.00%, South Africa 99.10%, Global 2024 64.13%, Global 2025 63.23%, EU + UK 48.43%, Japan 23.77%.

Age and gender still drive the biggest time differences

Even though the global average has edged down slightly, the highest-use groups are still young people. DataReportal’s 2025 report says women aged 16 to 24 spend just under 3 hours per day on social media, and its 2024 deep dive showed that this is almost double the 1 hour and 31 minutes recorded for men aged 55 to 64.

That pattern lines up with U.S. teen data. Gallup’s survey found the average teen at 4.8 hours per day, with usage rising from 4.1 hours among 13-year-olds to 5.8 hours among 17-year-olds. Girls also reported more daily time than boys, at 5.3 versus 4.4 hours.

U.S. teen social media time by group

Max = 5.8. Widths: Age 17 100.00%, Girls 91.38%, All teens 82.76%, Boys 75.86%, Age 13 70.69%.

Which apps take the most teen time?

Gallup’s app-by-app breakdown shows that YouTube and TikTok dominate teen attention in the U.S. The average teen reported 1.9 hours per day on YouTube, 1.5 hours on TikTok, and 0.9 hours on Instagram.

Max = 1.9. Widths: YouTube 100.00%, TikTok 78.95%, Instagram 47.37%.

Platform-level app time is still led by TikTok

At platform level, public app analytics point in the same direction: TikTok remains exceptional for time intensity. DataReportal’s 2024 deep dive reported 34 hours per month per Android user for TikTok, versus 28 hours and 5 minutes for YouTube and 19 hours and 47 minutes for Facebook. The 2025 DataReportal report then said the average TikTok Android user spent almost 35 hours in November 2024 globally, with U.S. users at almost 44 hours per month.

That does not mean every platform has more total attention than YouTube. DataReportal’s 2025 report says YouTube still accounts for the greatest overall share of time spent using social platforms because its user base is much larger. So the best summary is this: TikTok wins on intensity per user, while YouTube still dominates total attention.

What these time spent on social media statistics mean

The clearest pattern in the latest numbers is stability at a very high level. Global time spent is no longer rising sharply, but it is still hovering above 2 hours and 20 minutes per day. Younger audiences remain far above that line, and heavy-use markets still sit comfortably above 3 hours per day.

It is also important to compare like with like. Global and country averages in DataReportal largely reflect survey-based measures of internet users, while app-level numbers from data.ai focus on app activity and often emphasize Android use. Those datasets complement each other, but they are not measuring exactly the same thing.

For anyone tracking media habits, the biggest takeaway is simple: social media is still one of the largest recurring claims on daily attention, especially for teens, young adults, and users in high-intensity markets.

Sources

• DataReportal, Digital 2025: Global Overview Report, published February 5, 2025.
• DataReportal, The time we spend on social media, published January 31, 2024.
• Gallup, Teens Spend Average of 4.8 Hours on Social Media Per Day, published October 13, 2023.
• Pew Research Center, Teens, Social Media and Technology 2024, published December 12, 2024.