US surfers spend most time online

The US leads the way for time spent online, with the average surfer spending almost an hour a day on the web.

Americans spend nearly twice the amount of time surfing the internet compared to Australians, according to data from Nielsen Online.

Of the top seven countries in the league table, which covers the month of March 2008, five are European with the US first and Australia seventh.

On average, Americans spend more than 27 hours a month surfing the net, far longer than closest rival France, with 19 hours. Spain comes in third with the average Spaniard spending just under 18 hours online.

UK surfers average more than 17-and-a-half hours a month between home and work. Germany and Italy make up the top seven with 17 hours and 15 hours respectively.

The US was recently overtaken by China for top spot in a list charting the number of internet users.

By the end of February there were more than 221 million Chinese online, compared to the 137 million surfing at the start of 2007 – an increase of 61 per cent.

www.nielsen-online.com