70% of people in the UAE wish their loved ones would spend less time on their phones

• 79 per cent of UAE respondents want friends and family to cut back on phone use
• 4 in every 10 UAE residents say they have a problem with using their phone too much
• More than 1,000 people polled as part of the duke+mir 2023 Life and Technology Report

Dubai: Nearly eight out of 10 people in the UAE (79 per cent) wish their family and friends would spend less time on their phones when they are together. And a staggering 40 per cent of UAE residents think they have a problem with using their mobile phones too much and would like to cut back. 

These results are some of the top findings from the 2023 Life and Technology Report from communications agency, duke+mir. More than 1,000 people across the Emirates were independently polled (through YouGov) for their views on a range of lifestyle and technology questions, to discover more about the attitudes and behaviour of people in the UAE. 

Also, read – Research says UAE residents may continue to spend less as cost-of-living skyrockets

One of the biggest findings was that 70 per cent of UAE respondents think it has become harder to separate their work and personal life because of technology since 2020. They are adopting different remote technologies to enable us to work, but since the onset of Covid-19, appear to have distorted work-life balance.

Jonathan Ivan-Duke, Co-founder and Partner at duke+mir said, “People in the UAE are finding it very difficult to balance how they use technology, whether at work, at home or out and about with friends and family. We are prioritising using our phones ahead of people sitting right in front of us. This data shows we need to develop better ways to control our use of technology and perhaps learn to enjoy face-to-face interactions more.”

Other key findings from the report included:

• Nearly half of Emiratis (48 per cent) say they spend too long on their phone and want to cut back on usage. A significant proportion of Arab expats (48 per cent), Westerners (38 per cent) and Asian expats (36 per cent) also want to reduce their phone use
• 76 per cent of people in the UAE get frustrated by apps or websites every month, with more than a third of people surveyed having daily problems with apps/websites

To read the full report, visit dukemir.com/research

UAE Work Life Balance UAE Work Life Balance