Time children spent gaming weekly in the United Kingdom (UK) 2013-2019, by age

Children in the United Kingdom are spending more and more time gaming, both on and offline. The number of hours that children aged between 12 and 15 spent playing games peaked in 2018, at nearly 14 hours. In 2019 however, this dropped to 11.6 hours per week. 2019 also saw an overall decline in gaming hours per week across the various age groups compared to previous years.

Smartphone gaming

With the rise of smartphone ownership among children in the UK, the opportunity for gaming on the go has also increased. However, the number of children who have access to games consoles at home has actually decreased over recent years. This would suggest that more gaming is being done on handheld devices like smartphones and tablets, both inside and outside the home.

Are parents content with gaming content?

Should parents be concerned about the amount of time their children spend gaming? Letting children spend time playing games can give parents precious moments of relief (a child engrossed in their favorite game can’t run around causing mischief), but the content of these games might be unsuitable for some children.