S. Koreans spend more time on mobile devices in 2020: report

▲ This file photo, taken Oct. 30, 2020, shows visitors at an Apple store in southern Seoul using iPhones. (Yonhap)

mobile app use-2020 tally

S. Koreans spend more time on mobile devices in 2020: report

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Koreans spent an average of 4.4 hours on mobile devices a day last year, up 19 percent from the previous year amid the pandemic, a report showed Wednesday.

The country's increased use of mobile apps was in line with last year's global daily average of 4.2 hours, up 20 percent over the same period, according to the report from mobile data tracker App Annie.

App Annie said the time South Koreans spent on financial apps last year especially increased, with the country's top five financial apps logging 120 percent on-year growth.

"Amidst a tumultuous financial market upended by COVID-19, mobile apps are the go-to channel for participation," the report read.

YouTube was South Korea's most popular video streaming app in terms of average monthly time spent at 37.8 hours, followed by local rival AfreecaTV at 13.9 hours, Twitch at 11.1 hours, local over-the-top service Wavve at 9.1 hours and Netflix at 8.4 hours.

Among social media apps, locals spent a monthly average of 13.8 hours last year on China's TikTok, followed by local messenger KakaoTalk at 11.1 hours and Facebook at 8.7 hours.

The report also showed that South Koreans spent a total of US$5.64 billion on apps last year, compared with the global total of $143 billion.

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