Aussies spend about five and a half hours daily on free time activities, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported late 2022.

Key findings on how Australians use their time reveal on average, social interaction and dining out or drinking takes up about 2.40 hours each day.

Ninety three per cent of Autralians engaged in recreation and leisure activities, spending an average 4 hours 23 minutes each day.

A breakdown of chosen activities shows media and digital use is the major activity.

• 75% watched TV and video, for an average of 2 hours 55 minutes
• 36% browsed the internet for an average of 1 hour 1 minute
• 30% enjoyed exercise, sport or an outdoor activity, spending about 90 minutes on this
• 22% spent an average of 1 hour 26 minutes reading
   

There was little distinction between the genders however male participation in gaming was double that of female participation:

• 39% of females participated in general internet and device use compared to 33% of males
• 25% of females participated in reading compared to 18% of males
• 13% of males participated in digital games compared to 6% of females.

It turns out there is a difference of only four minutes in the time men and women spend at a leisure, cultural or sporting destinations (on average about 2 hours).

And there is no gender difference at all in the percentage of people who attend these destinations in the week – just 9.8 per cent. However there is a higher percentage of men (14%) than women (10.4%) who spend time at these locations at the weekend.

What about visitors to Australia? Primed to enjoy themselves while they are on holiday, international travellers are predicted to spend to a pre-pandemic level this year.