No, it isn’t the USA as some may have thought but China. Researchers at McGill University used data on smartphone use between 2014 and 2020 from nearly 34,000 participants in 24 countries around the world. And who comes next after China? Saudi Arabia and Malaysia had the highest rates of smartphone use after that. It seems being Muslims is no protection against its high usage and being European doesn’t mean higher smartphone use. Both Germany and France had the lowest among the 24.
The study was/is one of the first global data based comparative analysis using smartphone ownership and screen time use. It found linkages with phone addiction too. “Researchers assigned each nation a score for problematic smartphone use, ranging from 10 to 60. China ranked highest, with a score of 36 out of 60”, says the report. It used the Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS).
The study was conducted by researchers at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.
'Problematic smartphone use increased across the world between 2014 and 2020, and we expect this trend to continue.'
So where are the South Asian countries? It’s amazing which two made the list. India? Yes but at the 17th spot. But the top spot went to Nepal at number 10. Nobody would think that tucked far away among the mountains, young people were turning away from watching the Everest to look at the phone screen.
SCIENTISTS RANK CHINA HIGHEST FOR SMARTPHONE ADDICTION
For each nation, problematic smartphone use scores (which can range from 10 to 60) is also listed.
1. China (36.18)
2. Saudi Arabia (35.73)
3. Malaysia (35.43)
4. Brazil (32)
5. South Korea (31.62)
6. Iran (31.52)
7. Canada (31.11)
8. Turkey (30.92)
9. Egypt (29.54)
10. Nepal (29.41)
11. Italy (28.82)
12. Australia (28.61)
13. Israel (28.29)
14. Serbia (28.16)
15. Japan (27.71)
16. United Kingdom (27.69)
17. India (27.2)
18. United States (26.68)
19. Romania (25.52)
20. Nigeria (24.73)
21. Belgium (24.24)
22. Switzerland (23.45)
23. France (20.29)
24. Germany (18.44)
How did the Europe + US do?
Canada, where McGill University is located was ranked at seventh and well ahead of its fellow North American state, the US who sat at 18. France is 23rd and Germany 24th , the two least users. Europe doesn’t use it as much as brown and yellow Asians. Interestingly, Nepal and India are both Hindu majority states. But then Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran , Malaysia are all Muslims majority. So religion is no protection from addiction to phones.
The researchers think that it’s possible that “traditional” societies need to keep in touch so they use phones more but this seemed like a very speculative answer. Israel was at 13.
HOW SEVERE IS SMARTPHONE ADDICTION?
Researchers from mobile connectivity firm iPass surveyed more than 1,700 people in the US and Europe about their connectivity habits, preferences and expectations.
The survey revealed some of the most inappropriate situations in which people have felt the need to check their phone – during sex (seven per cent), on the toilet (72 per cent) and even during a funeral (11 per cent).
Sixty-one per cent of respondents said that Wi-Fi was impossible to give up – more than for sex (58 per cent), junk food (42 per cent), smoking (41 per cent), alcohol (33 per cent), or drugs (31 per cent).
A quarter of respondents even went so far as to say that they'd choose Wi-Fi over a bath or shower, and 19 per cent said they'd choose Wi-Fi over human contact.