The countries that can’t put the phone down, ranked (2025)

If you want to understand who’s glued to their phone in 2025, you have to start with one question: what exactly are we measuring?

Is it total time online, time specifically on mobile, or time spent inside apps? Different lenses surface different winners. That nuance matters, and it’s the story behind this year’s rankings.

Here’s the short version: mobile dominates daily life almost everywhere, but how we’re stuck to our screens varies by country.

The latest Digital 2025: Global Overview Report pulls together the best available sources to chart the world’s digital habits.

At the global level, the typical person spends 3 hours and 46 minutes per day using the internet on mobile devices—and 2 hours and 52 minutes on computers—a clear sign that the phone remains our primary gateway to the web.

Below, I’ll break down how the report frames “who can’t put the phone down,” why the leaders differ depending on the metric, and what to watch next.

How the 2025 rankings were built

The Digital 2025 report blends datasets from organizations that track different parts of our online lives. For mobile, two streams are especially relevant:

• Daily time online by device. This answers, “How much time do people spend on the internet via mobile phones vs. computers?” It’s the stat that delivers the global 3:46 on mobile figure above.

• Time in mobile apps. Much of our “phone time” happens inside apps, not browsers—DataReportal notes that less than 6% of smartphone time goes to web browsers and search apps. So any ranking of phone addiction has to account for app usage.

Two practical wrinkles: first, some app-usage datasets skew Android-only (iOS privacy constraints limit measurement), and second, China’s unique app store ecosystem complicates apples-to-apples comparisons. The report calls both out so readers don’t mistake sampling for behavior.

What the world looks like in 2025

“As I’ve suggested in previous years, the optimum device strategy is still mobile first, but not mobile only,” the report’s author notes. That line reads like marketing advice, but it doubles as a cultural snapshot. We’re not abandoning laptops; we’re simply defaulting to phones for more of the day.

Zoom out, and the pattern is consistent: mobile access keeps rising, networks keep getting faster (the typical mobile download speed sits around 61.5 Mbps), and the lion’s share of attention flows into native apps—especially video.

It’s no accident that YouTube continues to command the greatest share of total social-media time globally, with short-form video still turbocharging usage across platforms.

So…which countries really can’t put the phone down?

Here’s where the “ranked” part gets interesting. There isn’t a single, universal leaderboard because:

• Daily time online (regardless of device) highlights countries where the web permeates more of waking life.

• Daily time on mobile shows where the phone specifically dominates.

• Time in apps pinpoints markets where people live inside app ecosystems for work, play, and everything in between.

Put simply, different metrics crown different countries.

On mobile internet time: The headline number—3:46 per day—is a global average.

Country breakouts within DataReportal’s 2025 library show big regional spread, with parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia generally reporting higher daily internet time than North America and Western Europe. These differences reflect cost, connectivity, and culture: in many markets, a phone isn’t just the first screen; it’s the only screen that matters.

Inside apps: App time is the truest proxy for “can’t put the phone down,” since most smartphone minutes accrue in apps. Industry trackers report that people worldwide now spend roughly 3.5 hours per day in mobile apps, an eye-popping figure that nevertheless shows signs of plateauing in some mature markets.

The shape of that time—short-form video, messaging, audio, commerce—varies by country, but the overarching trend is unmistakable.

If you’re looking for where app time runs hottest, Southeast Asia often tops the charts. Markets like Indonesia repeatedly show some of the world’s highest averages for hours in apps per user per day, driven by an all-mobile economy (ride-hailing, payments, shopping, education, entertainment) that lives in app ecosystems.

Meanwhile, parts of Latin America and the Gulf also punch above their weight in daily app time, reflecting youthful populations and mobile-first usage. (DataReportal’s 2025 analysis draws on these same app-tracking sources to illustrate category shifts and platform leaders.) 

Why the leaders differ: Economies with high broadband penetration and workplace-heavy computer use (think UK or US) often rack up more total hours online when you include laptops—but look less extreme on mobile-only minutes.

In contrast, countries where phones stand in for PCs lean heavily into app ecosystems, making them look “glued to the phone” by any mobile-first measure.

What’s driving the stickiness

Three forces show up again and again in the 2025 data.

1. Short-form video. Consumption has normalized at staggering levels. Even with some signs of “digital fatigue,” short video still soaks up minutes and sessions across markets, fueling both YouTube’s overall share of social time and sustained engagement on rivals.

2. Payments and everyday services in apps. Where app-based payments, ride-hailing, food delivery, and commerce are routine, daily app minutes spike. This is especially visible in Southeast Asia and parts of Latin America, where super-app behaviors (or super-app bundles) make the phone a one-stop tool.

3. Network speed and cost curves. Faster, cheaper mobile data equals more streaming and more ambient usage (think background audio, maps, and messaging). The report notes markedly improved median download speeds globally in 2024, helping explain why mobile minutes keep inching up even as some desktop behaviors flatline.

A note on methodology—and why it matters for rankings

I’ve worked with enough measurement to know that definitions drive outcomes. In 2025:

• App usage ≠ internet usage. Because fewer than 6% of smartphone minutes go to web browsing, rankings built from “web traffic” alone undercount where people actually spend time on phones.

• Android bias is real. Some country-level app minutes rely on Android panels. That’s fine for broad comparisons (Android powers ~three-quarters of smartphones), but it can tilt precise rankings in iPhone-heavy markets. The report flags this to prevent false precision.

• China is hard to compare. With its distinct app distribution and ecosystems, China often sits outside “global” app-usage tables even though its population could sway any leaderboard. That’s a data gap, not a behavior gap.

So when you see “ranked” this year, read it as “ranked under a given lens.” On a pure “time in apps” basis, several Southeast Asian and Latin American countries crowd the top. On “time online via mobile,” parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America stand out.

On “total time online (all devices),” some Western markets climb. The underlying truth is the same: the phone is the default.

The public-health and policy response

This isn’t just a marketing or tech trend; it’s a youth and wellbeing story, too. Policymakers are starting to react. South Korea, a country with near-universal smartphone ownership, approved a nationwide ban on mobile phones in school classrooms, citing youth anxiety and attention costs; exceptions exist for accessibility and educational use.

The move aligns with a growing global debate over how to balance digital opportunity with mental health. 

As someone who toggles between data and day-to-day life, I think the important question isn’t whether phones are “good” or “bad.” It’s whether we have choice. Are we intentionally using our phones for connection, creativity, and convenience—or are we doom-scrolling by default? That’s where rankings meet reality.

What to watch through 2026

1. Plateau or second wind? Industry researchers note signs of slowing growth in daily app time in some mature markets—a whiff of “digital fatigue.” Whether that plateau holds, or AI-powered content and new app categories re-accelerate use, will shape next year’s leaders. 

2. The rise of utility minutes. Payments, mobility, and commerce minutes are more resilient than entertainment minutes. Countries that deepen app-based everyday services could inch up the mobile-time rankings even if social video growth cools. 

3. Policy offsets at the margins. School-day restrictions and age-gating may shave off when (and where) teens use phones, without dramatically changing how much adults use them. Expect visible changes in intra-day patterns before changes in daily totals. 

Bottom line

If you only remember one thing from the 2025 data, make it this: phones own the day.

Globally, we now spend more time online via mobile than via computers, and the vast majority of that mobile time happens inside apps. Countries rank differently depending on whether you privilege app minutes, mobile internet minutes, or total online time—but the leaders share one trait: their economies and cultures run through the phone.

For readers who want to dive deeper by country, DataReportal’s country dashboards and “Local Country Headlines” compile mobile, internet, and social metrics for 230+ markets, including shifts in daily time and device mix.

It’s the best way to see how your country stacks up under each lens.