World data · 42 countries · updated October 2026

Children's screen time by country

Reported daily recreational screen time for 8–12 year olds by country, ranked — with an honest note about the 19 countries where no comparable figure exists.

The short answer

United States leads the 42 countries ranked here on daily screen time, ages 8–12 at 5.5 hrs, followed by Canada at 5 hrs and Australia at 4.75 hrs. The median country is Turkey at 3.6 hrs.

#1 5.5 hrs United States North America #2 5 hrs Canada North America #3 4.75 hrs Australia Oceania Median 3.6 hrs Turkey The middle of 42

What this measures

Reported daily recreational screen time for children aged 8–12, excluding schoolwork, from national surveys and Common Sense Media-style studies.

What it does not

The single largest weakness in this dataset. Figures come from different national surveys with different methods and years. Only 42 of the 194 countries have a comparable figure at all; the rest are shown as not reported rather than estimated.

The bottom of the table

Kenya 2.4 hrs

Nigeria 2.5 hrs

Bangladesh 2.8 hrs

China 3 hrs

Pakistan 3 hrs

Bars are scaled across the full observed range (2.4 hrs to 5.5 hrs), not to 100%, so the real spread is visible.

How the values are spread

Where the 42 countries fall

The range from 2.4 hrs to 5.5 hrs is split into 10 equal bands, and each bar counts the countries in one band.

Number of countries in each band of daily screen time, ages 8–12
Band	Countries	Including
2.40 to 2.71 hrs	2	Nigeria, Kenya
2.71 to 3.02 hrs	3	Pakistan, China, Bangladesh
3.02 to 3.33 hrs	4	Vietnam, Guatemala, Japan and 1 more
3.33 to 3.64 hrs	12	Turkey, Malaysia, Norway and 9 more
3.64 to 3.95 hrs	8	France, Poland, Argentina and 5 more
3.95 to 4.26 hrs	6	Saudi Arabia, Spain, Chile and 3 more
4.26 to 4.57 hrs	4	New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and 1 more
4.57 to 4.88 hrs	1	Australia
4.88 to 5.19 hrs	1	Canada
5.19 to 5.50 hrs	1	United States

How this is built: each band is one tenth of the gap between the lowest and highest value; a country is counted in the band its value falls in, and the top band includes the highest value. Countries with no comparable figure are left out. Chart drawn with Apache ECharts.

The full ranking

All 194 countries

Click any column heading to re-sort. Type to filter, or pick a region. Every country name links to its full profile.

194 countries shown · 152 with no comparable figure

Children's screen time by country, ranked. Column headings re-sort the table.
Rank	Country	Daily screen time, ages 8–12	Region	Gen Alpha
#1	United States	5.5 hrs	North America	62m
#2	Canada	5 hrs	North America	6m
#3	Australia	4.75 hrs	Oceania	5m
#4	New Zealand	4.5 hrs	Oceania	1m
#5	United Kingdom	4.5 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#6	Ireland	4.4 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	1m
#7	Brazil	4.3 hrs	Latin America	44m
#8	Saudi Arabia	4.2 hrs	Middle East & North Africa	9m
#9	Spain	4.1 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	6m
#10	Chile	4.1 hrs	Latin America	4m
#11	Philippines	4 hrs	East Asia & Pacific	32m
#12	Italy	4 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	7m
#13	Mexico	4 hrs	North America	31m
#14	France	3.9 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#15	Poland	3.9 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	6m
#16	Argentina	3.9 hrs	Latin America	11m
#17	Russia	3.8 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	26m
#18	Netherlands	3.8 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	3m
#19	Germany	3.75 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	12m
#20	Sweden	3.7 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	2m
#21	Colombia	3.7 hrs	Latin America	11m
#22	Turkey	3.6 hrs	Middle East & North Africa	19m
#23	Malaysia	3.6 hrs	East Asia & Pacific	8m
#24	Norway	3.6 hrs	Europe & Central Asia	900k
#25	Peru	3.6 hrs	Latin America	8m
#26	India	3.5 hrs	South Asia	327m
#27	Thailand	3.5 hrs	East Asia & Pacific	11m
#28	Ecuador	3.5 hrs	Latin America	4m
#29	South Africa	3.4 hrs	Sub-Saharan Africa	17m
#30	Indonesia	3.4 hrs	East Asia & Pacific	68m
#31	South Korea	3.4 hrs	East Asia & Pacific	6m
#32	Venezuela	3.4 hrs	Latin America	7m
#33	Bolivia	3.4 hrs	Latin America	3m
#34	Vietnam	3.3 hrs	East Asia & Pacific	23m
#35	Guatemala	3.3 hrs	Latin America	6m
#36	Japan	3.25 hrs	East Asia & Pacific	14m
#37	Egypt	3.1 hrs	Middle East & North Africa	34m
#38	Pakistan	3 hrs	South Asia	80m
#39	China	3 hrs	East Asia & Pacific	230m
#40	Bangladesh	2.8 hrs	South Asia	44m
#41	Nigeria	2.5 hrs	Sub-Saharan Africa	95m
#42	Kenya	2.4 hrs	Sub-Saharan Africa	19m
—	Afghanistan	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	17m
—	Albania	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	457k
—	Algeria	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	14m
—	Andorra	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	10k
—	Angola	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	15m
—	Antigua and Barbuda	Not reported	Latin America	17k
—	Armenia	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	557k
—	Aruba	Not reported	Latin America	18k
—	Austria	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	1m
—	Azerbaijan	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	2m
—	Bahamas	Not reported	Latin America	71k
—	Bahrain	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	309k
—	Barbados	Not reported	Latin America	48k
—	Belarus	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	1m
—	Belgium	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	2m
—	Belize	Not reported	Latin America	113k
—	Benin	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	6m
—	Bermuda	Not reported	North America	9k
—	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	400k
—	British Virgin Islands	Not reported	Latin America	6k
—	Brunei	Not reported	East Asia & Pacific	97k
—	Bulgaria	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	960k
—	Burkina Faso	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	10m
—	Cameroon	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
—	Cape Verde	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	131k
—	Cayman Islands	Not reported	Latin America	12k
—	Central African Republic	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	3m
—	Chad	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	10m
—	Comoros	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	331k
—	Costa Rica	Not reported	Latin America	947k
—	Croatia	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	524k
—	Cuba	Not reported	Latin America	2m
—	Curaçao	Not reported	Latin America	27k
—	Cyprus	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	222k
—	Czechia	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	2m
—	Côte d'Ivoire	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
—	DR Congo	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	44m
—	Denmark	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	937k
—	Djibouti	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	345k
—	Dominica	Not reported	Latin America	12k
—	Dominican Republic	Not reported	Latin America	3m
—	El Salvador	Not reported	Latin America	2m
—	Equatorial Guinea	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	736k
—	Eritrea	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	1m
—	Estonia	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	203k
—	Eswatini	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	419k
—	Ethiopia	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	48m
—	Finland	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	806k
—	Gabon	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	959k
—	Gambia	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	1m
—	Georgia	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	780k
—	Ghana	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
—	Gibraltar	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	7k
—	Greece	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	1m
—	Grenada	Not reported	Latin America	22k
—	Guinea	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	6m
—	Guinea-Bissau	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	881k
—	Guyana	Not reported	Latin America	243k
—	Haiti	Not reported	Latin America	4m
—	Honduras	Not reported	Latin America	3m
—	Hungary	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	1m
—	Iceland	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	70k
—	Iran	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	18m
—	Iraq	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	16m
—	Israel	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	3m
—	Jamaica	Not reported	Latin America	518k
—	Jordan	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	4m
—	Kazakhstan	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	6m
—	Kiribati	Not reported	Oceania	48k
—	Kuwait	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	917k
—	Kyrgyzstan	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	2m
—	Laos	Not reported	East Asia & Pacific	2m
—	Latvia	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	279k
—	Lebanon	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	2m
—	Lesotho	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	815k
—	Liberia	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	2m
—	Libya	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	2m
—	Liechtenstein	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	6k
—	Lithuania	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	406k
—	Luxembourg	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	108k
—	Madagascar	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	13m
—	Malawi	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	9m
—	Maldives	Not reported	South Asia	101k
—	Mali	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	12m
—	Malta	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	71k
—	Marshall Islands	Not reported	Oceania	12k
—	Mauritania	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	2m
—	Mauritius	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	184k
—	Micronesia	Not reported	Oceania	36k
—	Moldova	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	578k
—	Monaco	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	5k
—	Mongolia	Not reported	East Asia & Pacific	1m
—	Montenegro	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	112k
—	Morocco	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	10m
—	Mozambique	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	14m
—	Myanmar	Not reported	East Asia & Pacific	13m
—	Namibia	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	1m
—	Nauru	Not reported	Oceania	5k
—	Nepal	Not reported	South Asia	8m
—	Nicaragua	Not reported	Latin America	2m
—	North Korea	Not reported	East Asia & Pacific	5m
—	North Macedonia	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	298k
—	Oman	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	1m
—	Palau	Not reported	Oceania	3k
—	Palestine	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	2m
—	Panama	Not reported	Latin America	1m
—	Paraguay	Not reported	Latin America	2m
—	Portugal	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	1m
—	Puerto Rico	Not reported	Latin America	362k
—	Qatar	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	476k
—	Republic of the Congo	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	3m
—	Romania	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	3m
—	Rwanda	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	6m
—	Samoa	Not reported	Oceania	84k
—	San Marino	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	4k
—	Senegal	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	7m
—	Serbia	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	947k
—	Seychelles	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	27k
—	Sierra Leone	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	3m
—	Singapore	Not reported	East Asia & Pacific	690k
—	Sint Maarten	Not reported	Latin America	7k
—	Slovakia	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	849k
—	Slovenia	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	306k
—	Somalia	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	10m
—	South Sudan	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	5m
—	Sri Lanka	Not reported	South Asia	4m
—	St Kitts and Nevis	Not reported	Latin America	9k
—	St Lucia	Not reported	Latin America	31k
—	St Vincent and the Grenadines	Not reported	Latin America	21k
—	Sudan	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	19m
—	Suriname	Not reported	Latin America	163k
—	Switzerland	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	1m
—	Syria	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	8m
—	São Tomé and Príncipe	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	92k
—	Tajikistan	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	4m
—	Tanzania	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	28m
—	Timor-Leste	Not reported	East Asia & Pacific	476k
—	Togo	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	4m
—	Tonga	Not reported	Oceania	36k
—	Trinidad and Tobago	Not reported	Latin America	265k
—	Tunisia	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	3m
—	Turkmenistan	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	2m
—	Turks and Caicos Islands	Not reported	Latin America	8k
—	Tuvalu	Not reported	Oceania	3k
—	Uganda	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	20m
—	Ukraine	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	6m
—	United Arab Emirates	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	2m
—	Uruguay	Not reported	Latin America	605k
—	Uzbekistan	Not reported	Europe & Central Asia	12m
—	Yemen	Not reported	Middle East & North Africa	18m
—	Zambia	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	9m
—	Zimbabwe	Not reported	Sub-Saharan Africa	7m

Reading the table

This is the table people arrive for and the one that deserves the most caution.

The United States leads at about 5.5 hours a day for 8–12 year olds, followed by Canada at 5 and Australia at 4.75. Saudi Arabia at 4.2 is the highest outside the English-speaking world. At the bottom of the reported range sit Kenya (2.4), Nigeria (2.5) and Bangladesh (2.8).

Before reading anything into that: the low figures are strongly associated with lower device access and lower internet penetration, not with stricter parenting. Nigeria at 2.5 hours has 48% internet penetration. The comparison that means something is between countries with similar access.

And 19 countries have no figure. Rather than estimate them, they are marked not reported — because a made-up number in a table like this would be indistinguishable from a real one, and would be quoted as if it were.

Run the numbers yourself

Tools that use this data

Screen Time Calculator by Age

Compare a child's daily screen hours against published guidance for their exact age, and…

→

Global Screen Hours Calculator

The total hours Generation Alpha spends on screens worldwide, per day.

→

Frequently asked

Which country has the highest child screen time?

The United States, at about 5.5 hours a day of recreational screen time for 8–12 year olds — the highest of any large country with a comparable figure.

How much screen time is normal for a 10 year old?

Reported averages range from about 2.4 to 5.5 hours a day depending on the country. In the US and Canada the average is around 5 hours; in most of Europe it is 3.5 to 4.5.

Why is screen time missing for some countries?

No comparable national survey exists for 152 of the 194 countries. They are marked not reported rather than estimated, because an invented figure in a table like this would be quoted as though it were measured.

Do lower screen-time countries have stricter parents?

Not primarily. The lowest figures track device access and internet penetration far more closely than they track parenting norms.

How many countries are in this table?

This table ranks 42 countries with a comparable figure, out of the 194 countries profiled on AlphaBetaMinds. The countries in this table hold about 75% of the world population.

Can I reuse this data?

Yes, free of charge and commercially, with a credit to AlphaBetaMinds and a link to this page. The full dataset is also available as plain text at https://alphabetaminds.com/llms-countries.txt.

Other data tables

Generation Alpha population Generation Alpha share of population Projected Generation Beta births Under-15 population share Total fertility rate Median age Births per day School starting age Compulsory years of schooling Secondary school completion Internet use Cost of raising a child to 18 Life expectancy at birth Urban population share Under-15 population change to 2040 Youth dependency ratio

Cite this table

AlphaBetaMinds (2026). Children's screen time by country. Retrieved from https://alphabetaminds.com/data/child-screen-time-by-country

Download the full dataset (CSV)

Sources: UN World Population Prospects, World Bank Open Data, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, ITU. Figures are 2025–2026 estimates. Method on our methodology page.