Negative side effects of smartphone addiction in selected Nordic countries 2018

Smartphone addiction has resulted in a constant need to check their phone among Nordic citizens. A survey conducted in 2018 showed that this was a negative side effect, noted by 23 percent of the respondents. Additionally, 21 percent felt increased levels of distraction when trying to complete a task, and 20 percent could not go to bed at the intended time. On the other hand, nearly half of all Nordic participants that year had not noticed any of the side effects listed. Within the Nordic countries, Norway and Sweden had the largest share of households with mobile phones in 2018. Finland and Denmark followed in the ranking. Nevertheless, all of the above-mentioned countries had a mobile penetration percentage of 93 percent or higher.  

How many apps do people install?

   Nordic citizens seemed to be installing many apps on their phones. Indeed, according to the results from a survey conducted in 2019, the largest share of people had installed 31 apps or more on their smartphones. There were very few respondents with no apps installed on their phones. In detail, only one percent of the interviewed Swedes had no apps.  

Smartphones worldwide

   The number of sold smartphones globally increased continuously over the period from 2007 to 2018, reaching nearly 1.56 billion units in 2018. The number was expected to drop slightly the following year, but was forecast to peak in 2020, reaching over 1.56 billion sold smartphones worldwide.