Average screen time by age: a whole-of-life view

Screen time by age group: the full table

Age group	Average daily screen time	Source
0–2 years	1h 3m	Common Sense Media
2–4 years	2h 8m	Common Sense Media
5–8 years	3h 28m	Common Sense Media
8–12 years (tweens)	5h 33m entertainment use (up from 4h 44m in 2019)	Common Sense Media
13–18 years (teens)	8h 39m entertainment use	Common Sense Media
18–24 years	≈8.1h across all devices	DataReportal
25–34 years	≈7.6h	DataReportal
35–44 years	≈7.1h	DataReportal
55–64 years	≈5h 15m	DataReportal
65+ (UK, online time)	≈3h 20m	Ofcom

Source: Common Sense Census; DataReportal Digital 2026; Ofcom Adults' Media Use and Attitudes. Definitions vary by source — see methodology note.

Early childhood: screens arrive before guidelines say they should

Official guidance is strictest for the youngest ages, and it is also the most widely exceeded. The WHO recommends no sedentary screen time at all before age 1 and no more than an hour a day for ages 2–4; the American Academy of Pediatrics advises against screens before 18 months apart from video calls. Reality looks different: 98% of two-year-olds watch screens on a typical day, and nearly half of parents report using screens daily to settle a child or head off a tantrum.

Tweens and teens: the steepest climb

The jump between ages 8 and 18 is the sharpest in the whole life course. Common Sense Media's census recorded tweens at 5 hours 33 minutes and teens at 8 hours 39 minutes of daily entertainment screen use — both figures having grown 20–30% since 2015, and both excluding school-related use. US federal data adds that 50.4% of 12–17-year-olds get four or more hours a day, and 95% of teens have access to a smartphone. A JAMA Network Open study published in March 2026, which tracked teens through app-based monitoring rather than self-report, found they averaged more than 70 minutes on their phones during school hours alone.

Adulthood: a slow decline, from a very high peak

Adults aged 18–24 record the highest usage of any adult cohort — around 8.1 hours a day across devices — before a gradual decline of roughly half an hour per decade: about 7.6 hours at 25–34, 7.1 at 35–44, and just over 5 hours by the late 50s. Two details complicate the tidy decline story. First, women aged 16–24 spend the most time online of any gender-age combination — nearly 46 hours a week. Second, the fastest growth is at the other end of life: screen time among over-65s has risen more than 20% since 2022 as streaming and health services move online.

What the guidelines say — and how they changed in 2026

For years, guidance was expressed in hours: none before 2, one hour for preschoolers, two hours of recreational use for school-age children. In January 2026 the American Academy of Pediatrics formally moved beyond rigid limits, reframing its advice around the quality of content, the context of use, and conversation between parents and children — while keeping firm anchors like no screens before 18 months (except video chat), device-free bedrooms and meals, and no screens in the hour before bed. The WHO's guidance for under-5s remains the strictest: none before 1, and no more than an hour, "less is better", for ages 2–4.

Methodology note: the sources in the table measure different things. Common Sense Media counts entertainment use only; DataReportal counts self-reported time online across devices; Ofcom measures online time; the CDC uses parent and teen self-report of non-school screen time. The age-curve shape is consistent across all of them, but individual figures are not directly comparable.