A new study has mapped global digital habits across 46 countries, ranking how “chronically online” or screen-addicted each nation has become.
Using data from World Population Review and Data Reportal, researchers measured social media penetration, daily screen time and monthly social media hours to create a 100-point index.
Here are the countries that were found to be the most screen-addicted.
The most “chronically online” countries
The United Arab Emirates leads the world with a perfect score of 100 for the most screen-addicted.
Nearly the entire population uses social media, clocking 7.98 hours of screen time per day and more than 111 hours per month on social platforms. Surprisingly, the United States ranked only 16th.
The study, done by Planable, found that across all countries measured, the average person spends 88 hours a month on social media and 6.69 hours a day looking at screens.
This suggests the typical person now spends around 13 years of their life staring at phones, computers and TVs.
Platform preferences also vary sharply by country. Finland leads the way in TikTok viewing, averaging 54.62 hours per month. Turkey leads Instagram use, Australia takes the top spot on Snapchat, and Japan records the highest X consumption.
Argentina spends the most time on social media overall at 117.98 hours a month, closely followed by Saudi Arabia.
Video streaming is almost universal. Nigeria, Ghana and Morocco sit at the top with participation rates above 98 percent. Even the lowest-ranking countries still show around 97 percent engagement.
Some tech-heavy nations, including South Korea and Japan, have surprisingly low social media penetration at 50.48 and 52.34 percent.
Europe also shows wide contrasts. Ireland ranks fifth globally and is the continent’s most chronically online country, while Switzerland and Denmark fall into the bottom tier.
South Africa placed at number 17, with a score of 59.19. South Africans spend an average of 9.62 hours per day on their screens, and 93.03 hours per month on social media.
The top 10 countries
Here’s a look at the top 10 countries that are most screen-addicted:
| Rank | Country | Social Media Penetration (%) | Average Daily Screen Time (hr) | Average Monthly Social Media Usage (hr) | “Chronically Online” Index Score |
| 1 | U.A.E. | 99.59 | 7.98 | 111.73 | 100.00 |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia | 98.65 | 7.03 | 117.62 | 92.81 |
| 3 | Philippines | 77.75 | 8.85 | 97.18 | 82.41 |
| 4 | Chile | 74.52 | 8.75 | 104.43 | 81.58 |
| 5 | Argentina | 70.23 | 8.73 | 117.98 | 76.79 |
| 6 | Singapore | 87.89 | 6.57 | 86.65 | 71.21 |
| 7 | Canada | 79.00 | 6.08 | 101.03 | 70.42 |
| 8 | Colombia | 68.88 | 8.73 | 102.23 | 68.80 |
| 9 | Brazil | 67.67 | 9.15 | 99.90 | 68.01 |
| 10 | Australia | 77.48 | 6.08 | 102.98 | 68.01 |
Planable’s CMO Miruna Dragomir says the findings reflect “digital saturation syndrome,” marked by anxiety when disconnected, shrinking attention spans and weakening in-person social skills.
“Our study shows some trends that are truly cause for alarm, like when whole populations are spending more than 8 hours a day with screens and more than 100 hours a month on social media, we enter very new territory in human experience. The nations at the top of our rankings aren’t just connected, they’re displaying what psychologists call the symptoms of ‘digital saturation syndrome’: anxiety when disconnected, shorter attention spans, and even impaired face-to-face social skills.” Dragomir said.
She advises people to start by tracking their usage, choose active engagement over passive scrolling and create phone-free zones at home. Simple habits, she says, can make screen time and being online more intentional and ease digital overload.
