Internet Addiction Statistics - Facts, Figures, & Numbers - TechAddiction

How common is internet addiction? What percentage of online users are addicted to the internet? How many people have problematic internet habits?

Below you will find the answers to these questions (and more) in a review of published articles on recent internet addiction statistics.

Note that the statistics generally focus on North America and Europe - primarily because most visitors to TechAddiction reside in these parts of the world. However, keep in mind that there has been far more research on internet addiction in countries such as China, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Also, because there is no official set of diagnostic criteria for internet addiction, the symptoms used to define problematic use will vary from study to study. Consequentially, this may produce inconsistent internet addiction statistics and results.

Finally, for complete details on the following internet addiction statistics be sure to read the full articles below.

Internet Addiction Statistics

• In a Chinese study, teens classified as highly addicted to the internet were twice as likely to also display self-injurious behavior.
  

Xie et al., 2010

• 1.5% – 3.5% of German teens show signs of internet addiction or excessive use. Among these adolescents, internet addiction is correlated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and lower school achievement.
  

Peukert et al., 2010

• The prevelance rate of internet addiction for studies published in North America and Europe ranges from 1.5% to 8.2%.
  

Weinstein et al., 2010

• In 2005, just 9 - 15 million people in the United States used the internet every day. Every three months the rate of use was increasing by 25%.
  

Wieland et al., 2005

• Internet users in Greece have an internet addiction prevalence rate of 8.2%. Most internet addicts are males who play online games and access internet cafés.
  

Konstantinos et al., 2008

• 10% of South Korean youth are considered to be at high risk for internet addiction.
  

Park et al., 2009

• In addition to demonstrating other criteria, it has been proposed that a diagnosis of internet addiction must include symptoms for at least 3 months and at least 6 hours of non-essential internet use per day.
  

Tao et al., 2010

• 96% of teenagers in China use IM and 10% can be classified as IM addicts.
  

Leund et al., 2009

• 41% of self-selected online gamers play video games to escape and 7% are classified as being at risk of developing a psychological and behavioral dependence on online computer games.
  

Hussain et al., 2009

• 1% of Norwegians are addicted to the internet. An additional 5% are at risk of developing internet addiction. The highest rate of addiction is in the 16-29 year old group (4% addicted, 19% at risk).
  

Bakkan et al., 2008

• 11% of South Korean students are considered to be at risk for internet addiction.
  

Park et al., 2008

• The prevalence of problematic internet use among South African technology workers is 4% (compared to 2% of a control group of non-IT workers).
  

Thatcher et al., 2008

• 7% of Chinese elementary and middle school students suffer from internet addiction. The rate is higher in males (10%) than in females (4%). The rate is higher for rural students (8%) than for city students (5%).
  

Liu et al., 2010

• Only 1% of college-level introductory and abnormal psychology books make reference to internet addiction.
  

Mossbarger, 2008

• Adolescents who play more than one hour of console or Internet video games may have more or more intense symptoms of ADHD or inattention than those who do not
  

Chan et al., 2006

• 15% of MMORPG players meet the criteria for Internet addiction. Less than 1% of the players surveyed indicated that they have sought professional help for Internet addiction.
  

Parson, 2005

• 18% of British students were considered to be pathological internet users, whose excessive use of the internet was causing academic, social, and interpersonal problems. Students addicted to the internet were found to have lower self-esteem than other students.
  

Niemz et al., 2005

• 84% of college counselors "agree" or "strongly agree" that Internet Addiction Disorder is a legitimate disorder. 93% of college counselors have "some, but not sufficient training" or "no training" on diagnosing internet addiction disorder. 94% of college counselors have "no training" or "some, but not sufficient training" on the treatment of internet addiction disorder.
  

Venturini, 2005

• Among daily users of the internet, 5% of boys and girls from Finland were classified as being addicted to the internet.
  

Kaltiala-Heino et al., 2004



More internet addiction stats? Click the infographics below to enlarge.

                                               

Related & recommended pages on this topic:

• Internet Addiction Treatment
  

• Gaming Addiction Statistics, Facts, Articles, & Research
  

• Video Game Addiction Statistics - Facts, Figures, Percentages, & Numbers
  

• Child Video Game Addiction Facts
  

• Children and Technology – Stats for Technology in the Home
  

COMMENTS

How much time do you spend online? Do you think that some people really are addicted to the internet?