Betway’s latest survey of 2,000 Brits takes a closer look at the nation’s sofa-sitting habits, revealing that:
- On average, Brits spend nearly 10 hours a day on the sofa, totalling a whopping 147 days across the entire year.
- The majority of this time is spent watching TV, with the average person clocking in around 23 hours per week, or almost 50 days per year.
- Brits will also spend 24 days per year simply sitting on the sofa scrolling through their phone, and 21 hours simply just lounging.
| Activity | Hours spent per week | Hours spent per year | Days spent per year |
| Watching TV | 23 | 1,182 | 49 |
| Scrolling on my phone | 11 | 586 | 24 |
| Working | 11 | 547 | 23 |
| Lounging (not watching TV) | 10 | 505 | 21 |
| Eating | 7 | 373 | 16 |
| Reading | 6 | 332 | 14 |
Further findings on Britain’s sofa habits revealed:
- Based on an average UK life expectancy of 82.06 years, those aged 18 and above spend an average of 25.78 years of their life on the sofa.
- Those aged 25-34 are the only age group where working takes up more sofa time than watching TV, spending almost three hours a day, or 19 hours of the working week, working from the couch. In comparison, this age group spends 16 hours watching TV on the sofa per week.
- Men and women spend almost the exact same amount of time on the sofa every year, however women spend around 50 hours more per year watching TV, and another 50 hours more scrolling on their phone from the couch in comparison to men.
- Time spent on the sofa decreases with age: adults aged 25-34 spend the most – an average of 12 hours per day – while those aged 65 and over will spend just over seven hours daily on the sofa.
Whilst we all love kicking back and relaxing on the sofa, it can lead to uncomfortable aches and pains as a result. Dr. Sham Singh shares his top tips for sitting on the sofa in a way that helps prevent back and neck pain while you relax:
“Prolonged sitting on the sofa can cause some issues for both your physical and mental wellbeing over time.
“To avoid back and neck issues while sitting on the sofa, treat it like a short-term workstation: keep your feet flat, knees level with or slightly lower than your hips, and add a cushion or rolled towel behind your lower back for support if needed.
“Make sure screens – whether TVs or phones – are at eye level to reduce strain, and avoid staying reclined for longer periods than you would upright. Simple adjustments like these can help maintain good posture and prevent discomfort.
“Ideally, you should move around every 30 to 45 minutes – stretch a little, open up the hips, extend the back, or take a quick walk around the room.”
