The average internet user worldwide spends 2 hours and 21 minutes per day on social media, according to the DataReportal Digital 2026 report. That figure covers more than 5.2 billion active social media users globally.
However, the distribution is far from even. In several countries, the average daily time spent on social platforms exceeds the global average by two times or more.
Based on data from DataReportal and Statista compiled by Players Time (2025), the five countries with the highest daily social media usage are Kenya (5 hours 10 minutes), the Philippines (4 hours 50 minutes), Brazil (4 hours 9 minutes), Nigeria (4 hours 9 minutes), and South Africa (4 hours 2 minutes). Here is a closer look at each of them.
Kenya and the Philippines: Competing for the Top Spot
Depending on which report is used, the world's top position alternates between Kenya and the Philippines.
According to the DataReportal Digital 2024 report, Kenya ranked first with an average of 3 hours and 43 minutes per day, which is 1 hour and 13 minutes above the global average, as noted by Business Today in its analysis of the report.
More recent data from Players Time (2025) places Kenya at 5 hours and 10 minutes per day, followed by the Philippines at 4 hours and 50 minutes. Statista's data for the fourth quarter of 2025 identifies the Philippines as the country with the highest weekly time spent on social media globally.
What makes Kenya's position particularly remarkable is the country's context. Internet penetration stood at only 40.8 percent of the population at the beginning of 2024. Yet among those who are online, social media usage is the most intensive in the world.
In the Philippines, 95 percent of internet users actively use Facebook every month, while the average TikTok user spends more than 40 hours per month on that platform alone, according to Meltwater.
Total daily screen time in the Philippines reaches approximately 8 hours and 52 minutes across all types of screens, making it the third-highest in the world according to DemandSage.
Brazil
Brazil consistently ranks among the top three in nearly every global report, recording 3 hours and 34 minutes per day according to DataReportal 2024, or 4 hours and 9 minutes according to Players Time 2025.
The country has 188 million Facebook users, equivalent to 84.2 percent of its total population, and 131 million TikTok users aged 18 and above, according to DataReportal Digital 2026.
The average TikTok user in Brazil spends 95 minutes per day on the platform alone, according to CommentGrid. More than 60 percent of Brazilian internet users rely on social media as their primary source of news rather than conventional news websites, according to Sprinklr.
Nigeria and South Africa
Nigeria ranks either fourth or fifth depending on the report, recording 3 hours and 23 minutes per day according to DataReportal 2024, or 4 hours and 9 minutes according to Players Time 2025.
According to DataReportal Digital 2026, Nigerian users are active on social media an average of 5.84 days out of every seven days each week, meaning there is almost no day without social media use.
South Africa completes the list with daily social media usage ranging from 3 hours and 37 minutes to 4 hours and 2 minutes. For total screen time, including all screen-based activities rather than just social media, South Africa records 9 hours and 37 minutes per day, the highest in the world in that category, according to Stocklytics data compiled by Comparitech.
Three of the five countries on this list are in Africa. All three, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, have much lower internet penetration than the United States or Japan. Yet among those who are online, users spend significantly more time on social media platforms.
