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How Australians spent their time in 2016

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television watching couple christmas

television watching couple christmas

Watching TV, browsing the web or playing sport?

What did you do in 2016? Perhaps you found a new job or took a holiday? Maybe you learned to play an instrument or joined a yoga class at the gym? Or did you spend more time in front of the TV than at work?

A study by Roy Morgan Research analysing how Australians utilised their time in 2016 found more time was spent in front of the television (18.7 billion hours) than at work (17.7 billion hours).

Each Australian had 8,784 hours available to them throughout 2016.

93% of Aussies watched an average 1,023 hours of television (11%), while 59% had jobs averaging 1,511 hours per employee (17%).

87% of people listened to the radio each week, averaging 881 hours per year (10%).

94% of Aussies who surfed the web each week spent an average 1,068 hours on the net in 2016 (12%).

Reading newspapers and magazines was also popular, as was going out for food and drinks. Aussies visited cafés, restaurants, fast food outlets and pubs over 1.25 billion times throughout the year.

A recent report by Intermedia, Eating Out In Australia, found Australians spend $45 billion a year eating out - that's nearly $100 per household per week.

Aussies played sport or engaged in some sort of physical exercise 853 million times this year.

Playing video, computer and board games totalled 661 million individual occasions nationally in 2016.

Australians also took trips to the beach (189 million), partied at clubs (124 million), caught a flick at the cinema (95 million), admired art galleries, museums exhibitions and historical buildings (75 million), enjoyed the theatre, ballet, opera and concerts (50 million), gambled on the pokies (44 million), attended professional sporting events (34 million) and visited the zoo or theme parks (33 million).

Spending an average eight nights away, Aussies used a small proportion (6%) of their time to holiday.

Those who manage their time well are often successful. Understand how best to organise your life.

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