Key Takeaways
- 6h 07m – females aged 16-24 lead all groups as the highest daily internet users
- 3h 28m gap – the total spread between youngest and oldest age groups, a difference of over 55%
- ~1,000 hours/year – even the 65+ group logs this much online time annually
- Gender gaps narrow with age – from 24 minutes apart at 16-24, down to just 6 minutes at 55-64
The Story Behind the Numbers
Q2 2025 global data confirms what many suspect: the younger you are, the longer you spend consuming online media – think social media, streaming video, streaming TV, podcasts, online press, and music platforms – and the gap is bigger than most people expect.
Users aged 16-24 lead all groups, with females averaging 6h 07m and males 5h 43m daily. The 25-34 group follows closely at 5h 23min and 5h 07min. The 35-44 group averages around 4h 35min – 4h 38min, the 45-54 group around 4h 13min – 4h 15min, and the 55-64 group around 3h 40min – 3h 46min. The 65+ group logs the least – 2h 44min (female) and 2h 39min (male).
The total spread between the highest and lowest groups is roughly 3 hours 28 minutes – a proportional difference of over 55%. Gender gaps are small throughout, narrowing to just 6 minutes by age 55–64.
Why This Data is Important
More hours online means more exposure – to ad trackers, data brokers, and security threats. The nature of those risks varies by age, but no group is immune.
Younger users (16-34) averaging 5-6 hours daily are heavy streamers, gamers, and file-sharers. Those habits expose IP addresses and browsing patterns constantly. If you fall into that bracket, learning how to hide your IP address is a practical first step. For older users spending 3-4 hours online, phishing scams and unsecured public Wi-Fi are the more pressing threats. Still, even the 65+ group logs close to 1,000 hours of online media annually. That’s not a small footprint.
Looking Ahead: Future Outlook
Today’s 16-34 users won’t drop their habits as they age – they’ll carry them forward. As high-usage generations get older, average daily internet time across all age brackets will keep climbing. Privacy tools like VPNs will shift from optional to expected.
Source & Methodology
All figures are drawn from the We Are Social Digital 2026 Global Overview Report / GWI (Q2 2025). Data reflects average weekly online media consumption among internet users aged 16+, segmented by age group and gender. Daily figures represent weekly totals divided by seven.