Faced with a global average time spent online each day of between 20 minutes and six hours and 37 minutes per person in 2022, South Africans spent at least 9.5 hours a day online last year, the highest rate in the world. This was stated in a report published by the virtual private network platform, Atlas VPN, based in Delaware, in the United States, which collected data from the social media research firm We Are Social and Social Media Intelligence Platform Meltwater relating to users aged between 16 and 64 years in 46 countries.
According to available data, South Africa has 43.48 million Internet users out of a total population of 60.14 million, which represents a penetration rate of 72.3%, while the government plans to grant Internet access to all South African families by next year.
In 2021, South Africa’s digital quality of life was ranked 68th globally, and the country’s mobile and broadband internet accessibility, along with mobile internet stability, were among the best in Africa.
The Atlas VPN study indicates that getting information (57.8%), keeping in touch with friends and family (53.7%), keeping up to date with news and events (50.9%), watching videos (49.7%) and knowing how to do something (47.6%) are the top five reasons people spend time online.
According to the same study, Brazilians spend nine hours and 32 minutes, the Philippines nine hours and 14 minutes, and Argentina and Colombia nine hours and 1 minute. “Some people in the United States also spend more than average time online, spending 419 minutes (six hours and 59 minutes) a day browsing, the same as people living in Singapore,” the report said.
Conversely, some European countries such as Denmark, Austria and Germany spend less time online than the global average. East Asian countries remain among the laggards, with five hours 25 minutes in China and three hours 45 minutes in Japan.
Meanwhile, globally, the average time spent online has decreased as the world moves away from the pandemic. In 2022 it was 20 minutes shorter than in 2021. [Da Redazione InfoAfrica]
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