Britons have been enjoying a “couch potato” lockdown with much of their extra spare time devoted to watching TV and films, official figures reveal today.
A breakdown drawn up by the Office for National Statistics shows that the daily amount of time devoted to all forms of entertainment has increased by nearly three quarters of an hour a day — from four hours, 37 minutes to five hours, 21 minutes.
By far the most popular activity was watching TV or streaming videos, which took up two hours and 53 minutes a day on average.
Other activities in this category were less popular, with just 28 minutes a day reading, 26 minutes playing games (including computer games), and 16 minutes a day contacting friends and family via phone or messaging services.
Extra time at home has also allowed people to devote more time to their homes and gardens. The daily time spent on DIY and gardening has jumped from 15.7 to 38.8 minutes.
However, there has only been a tiny increase in the amount of the day allocated to keeping fit. Daily exercise has only increased by five minutes from 18.7 to 23.1 minutes.
The ONS compared data for March and April with the last time surveying of this sort was carried out in 2015.
The biggest fall was travelling and transport, which dropped from one hour, 23 minutes to just 17.1 minutes.
Time allocated to sleep and rest only crept up from eight hours 53 minutes to nine hours 11 minutes.
