New survey by the leading virtual private network provider NordVPN revealed that Australians spend 27 years, 6 months, and 17 days of their lifetime online. Compared to the average life expectancy, which in the Australia is 82.9 years, it is roughly a third of their lives.
During a typical week, Aussies spend a bit more than 55 hours using the internet, which is the equivalent of over two days. This amounts to a little over 114 days a year, or almost 27 years of a lifetime.
Out of those 55 hours per week, around 16 hours are spent working, while the remaining almost 39 hours – for various online activities.
The average time Australians start browsing the internet each day is 9:03 – and they don’t log off until 21:18.
Biggest amount of time – on social media
The biggest amount of Aussies’ online time per week – 9 hours and 14 minutes – is spent scrolling through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. While 6 hours 29 minutes – is spent streaming TV shows and films on platforms like Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu. Slightly less – 4 hours and 43 minutes – are spent watching videos, for example, on Youtube.
A further 4 hours and 26 minutes a week are dedicated to listening to music on Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Prime Music, and other similar platforms, while 3 hours and 15 minutes are spent researching.
Besides that, 3 hours and 1 minute/week are given for gaming, for example, Fortnite, Minecraft and other 3 hours and 9 minutes – for life admin tasks like online banking.
“Most of us seek to ease and enrich our daily lives with a bunch of various online platforms and services, however, barely anyone thinks about their online security and privacy of the data provided to apps and websites.
Long hours spent on the internet only signals about the increased risk of becoming another cyber criminals’ victim – current global circumstances make them even more active,” comments Daniel Markuson, a digital privacy expert at NordVPN.
Aussies are active in giving away their personal information
Survey shows that over 1 in 3 (35.7%) Aussies cannot imagine going a day without the internet, and such dependency forces them to share a lot of their sensitive information.
Among the most publicly disclosed details are date of birth (68.4%), names and surnames (72%), full address (62.1%), relationship status (41.9%), likes and dislikes (26.6%) as well as the bank details (28.3%).
Additionally, almost a quarter of Aussies publicly disclosed their clothing size (21.4%).
After being asked what they would give up for their personal information to be permanently deleted from the internet, Aussies identified smoking marijuana (28.3%), playing video games (28.8%), or drinking alcohol (26.5%).
“Today, the majority of our lives can be conducted online from making payments to providing entertainment for ourselves with TV shows and games. And that’s why we should pay special attention to online cyber threats.
Tailored messages creating a sense of urgency, suspicious or unknown sender, poor language, uncertain attachments and links – these are the first signs of a scam to watch out for. Only open attachments from the people you trust, and if there are any doubts – do not hesitate to discuss the case with your colleagues and friends,” warns Daniel Markuson, a digital privacy expert at NordVPN.
Methodology: The survey was commissioned by NordVPN and conducted by the external company Norstat on July 26- August 2nd, 2021. The survey’s target group was residents of Australia aged 18-74, and the sample was taken from national internet users. Quotas were placed on age, gender, and place of residence.

Time spent online during the typical week:
Online shopping – 3 hours 18 minutes
Streaming TV shows/films – 6 hours 29 minutes
Social media – 9 hours 14 minutes
Listening to music – 4 hours 26 minutes
Watching videos – 4 hours 43 minutes
Life admin – 3 hours 9 minutes
Researching – 3 hours 15 minutes
Video calls – 3 hour 22 minutes
Gaming – 3 hours 1 minute
Following classes/tutorials – 2 hours 18 minutes
Looking up recipes – 2 hour 27 minutes
Working – 16 hours 28 minutes