Screen & Digital Behaviour
Time Spent with Friends - Statistics & Comparison
Daily friend time remains far below the 2003 baseline, and the counter shows the current level in real time
Roughly 1.25 minutes every hour.
person-years Americans spend with friends today (declining)
Source: BLS American Time Use Survey 2020; US Surgeon General Advisory on Loneliness 2023. View on dashboard →
The friendship recession: why Americans and Europeans are spending dramatically less time with friends
Americans spend less time with friends than they used to. BLS time-use data: 60 minutes per day in 2003, collapsing to 20 minutes by 2020. A partial post-COVID recovery to ~30 minutes/day by 2024 still leaves friend time far below the 2003 baseline. Time alone rose 24 hours per month over 2003–2020. The Surgeon General called it a loneliness epidemic in 2023, with real health effects comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes per day.
This is not a soft social issue - declining friend time is a measurable health and mortality risk
In 2023, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a formal advisory on loneliness and isolation, comparing its mortality risk to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. That comparison comes from a 2010 meta-analysis by Julianne Holt-Lunstad covering 308,849 people, which found that social isolation was associated with a 29% increase in mortality risk. Loneliness is not an emotion that passes - it is a chronic physiological stressor that elevates cortisol, increases inflammation markers, and impairs immune function.
The time-use data makes this concrete. American adults now spend an average of just 4 minutes per day in face-to-face contact with friends, down from roughly 30 minutes in 2003. For people under 35, the decline is even steeper. The hours formerly spent in person have not been replaced with equally satisfying digital contact: research consistently finds that text-based and passive social media use correlates with increased loneliness rather than reduced loneliness. Seeing friends live their lives on Instagram is not the same as being with them.
The practical implication is uncomfortable to confront: most adults are not maintaining friendships at a level that research suggests is healthy. Harvard's Adult Development Study, which followed hundreds of people for 80+ years, found that the single strongest predictor of late-life happiness and cognitive health was not wealth, career success, or even physical health - it was the quality and warmth of relationships. The counter above is ticking downward. The research says the cost is larger than most people realize until it is too late to act on it.
Time with friends over time (minutes/day)
BLS time-use data shows Americans lost two-thirds of their daily friend time from 2003 to 2020, declining from 60 to 20 minutes per day. The trend predates COVID and correlates with the rise of smartphone social media.
| Year | Minutes/day with friends | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 60 min | Pre-smartphone; in-person social baseline |
| ~2012 | 45 min | Smartphone era begins |
| 2019 | 35 min | Decline accelerates; social media dominant |
| 2020 | 20 min | COVID-19 + pre-existing trend |
| 2024 | 30 min | Post-COVID partial recovery; still well below 2003 |
| 2028 (forecast) | 25 min | Structural loneliness trends continue; screen substitution persists |
Key statistics: the loneliness epidemic
Time Americans spend with friends fell from ~60 minutes/day (2003) to ~20 minutes/day (2020), a two-thirds reduction
Social isolation increased by 24 hours per month between 2003 and 2020 (BLS ATUS)
The US Surgeon General declared a loneliness epidemic in 2023, calling it equivalent in health impact to 15 cigarettes/day
Time spent alone increased from 43.5% of leisure time (2003) to 49.7% (2022)
The decline in friend time is steepest among young adults (18-34), men, and lower-income groups
Time with friends vs. time on social media, today
The starkest illustration of the loneliness paradox: we spend more than 7× as much time on social media as in face-to-face contact with friends.
The friendship recession: why modern life is crowding out connection
The great withdrawal
The ATUS data reveals a systematic withdrawal from in-person social connection that predates COVID-19 by nearly two decades. From 2003 to 2019, Americans steadily reduced the time they spent with friends, non-household family members, neighbours, and colleagues outside of obligatory work interactions. This is not simply a matter of being "too busy": total leisure time remained roughly constant; the shift was from social leisure (with others) to solo leisure (alone, often with screens). The trend accelerated dramatically in 2020 with COVID, and has not fully reversed.
The paradox of digital connection
The period of maximum decline in face-to-face friend time (2010-2020) corresponds exactly to the rise of social media. Whether social media substituted for in-person interaction or is merely correlated with other causes (urbanisation, longer commutes, career focus) remains debated. Jonathan Haidt's 2024 book "The Anxious Generation" argues for a direct causal link between smartphone-based social media and the decline in real-world socialisation, particularly among adolescents. The data is consistent with this hypothesis, though not conclusive.
The research behind the friendship recession and loneliness epidemic
| Year | Finding | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | BLS ATUS 2003: Americans spend ~60 minutes/day socially with friends; time with non-household family ~40 min/day | 60 minutes/day with friends (2003) | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| 2012 | BLS ATUS 2012: friend time declining; early smartphone era; approx. 45 min/day with friends | 45 minutes/day with friends (2012 est.) | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| 2019 | BLS ATUS 2019: ~35 min/day with friends; time alone 48.7% of leisure | 35 minutes/day with friends (2019) | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| 2020 | BLS ATUS 2020: friend time collapses to ~20 min/day; COVID-19 effect; social isolation +24 hours/month vs 2003 | 20 minutes/day with friends (2020) | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| 2022 | Post-COVID partial recovery; time with people outside household 14.3% (vs 21.9% in 2003) | partial recovery post-COVID | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
From Putnam's "Bowling Alone" to the Surgeon General's advisory: how we documented the loneliness crisis
- 2003BLS ATUS begins; Americans spend ~60 min/day with friends
- 2010iPhone mass adoption; social media begins scaling; friend time begins accelerated decline
- 2019~35 min/day with friends; US Surgeon General begins tracking loneliness indicators
- 2020COVID: friend time collapses to ~20 min/day; social isolation peaks
- 2023US Surgeon General declares loneliness epidemic; equivalent health risk to 15 cigarettes/day
In perspective
Americans lost 40 minutes of daily friend time between 2003 and 2020, going from 60 minutes to 20 minutes per day. A partial recovery to ~30 min/day by 2024 still leaves friend time far below the 2003 baseline.
At ~30 minutes/day (2024), the average American still spends less time with friends than commuting by car – down from 60 minutes in 2003.
How the number is calculated
The current live counter uses the 2024 BLS ATUS estimate of ~30 minutes/day with friends, neighbours, and acquaintances – a partial post-COVID recovery from the 2020 low of 20 min/day. This is a person-level measure, not a global rate. The counter shows accumulation for a single person since midnight: seconds elapsed × 30/1,440. The historical decline from 60 min (2003) to 20 min (2020) is drawn directly from BLS ATUS annual data; the 2024 value represents partial recovery, still well below the 2003 baseline.
Sources: BLS American Time Use Survey 2024 - Our World in Data - Time Spent with Others over a Lifetime. Methodology →
Frequently asked questions
- How much time does the average American spend with friends per day?
- According to BLS ATUS data, Americans spent ~60 minutes/day with friends in 2003, falling to ~20 minutes/day by 2020 – a two-thirds reduction. By 2024 a partial post-COVID recovery brought the figure to ~30 minutes/day, which is the current live counter baseline. The decline predates COVID and reflects structural trends in socialisation.
- Is the decline in friend time related to increased screen time?
- Multiple studies suggest a correlation but not conclusive causation. The decline in face-to-face friend time began before smartphones became ubiquitous. However, the acceleration post-2010 correlates with smartphone adoption and rising social media use, which may substitute digital for in-person interaction.
- What are the health effects of spending less time with friends?
- The US Surgeon General's 2023 Advisory on Loneliness found that social isolation increases mortality risk equivalently to smoking 15 cigarettes per day. It is associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline.
Why trust this data
Data comes from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey (ATUS), the gold standard for time-use measurement in the US. ATUS has surveyed a nationally representative sample of Americans annually since 2003. Results are used by the US Census Bureau, CDC, and White House Council of Economic Advisers. International corroboration comes from OECD Time Use Database and UK Office for National Statistics.
Sources
BLS American Time Use Survey 2024 - Our World in Data - Time Spent with Others over a Lifetime.
Explore related: Social media time - Couples who met online - Attention span data, and the live AnythingCounter dashboard.