Chilean 15-year-olds are the group with the highest proportion of students playing video games for more than three hours on a typical weekday among all countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with 36 percent of students doing so. This figure sits 10 percentage points above the 26 percent average recorded across member nations.
Intensive Gaming Trends in Chile
The findings were released in the second volume of the report, Perspectivas de la economía y la sociedad digitales, presented by OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann during the Digital Summit in Tallinn. The data, collected in 2025, shows that 81 percent of 15-year-olds play video games on a regular school day.
While the OECD categorizes up to three hours of daily play as moderate, the 36 percent of Chilean students exceeding this limit places the country at the top of the international ranking. Chile also reports a notably high proportion of students engaging in extremely long sessions; 9 percent of those surveyed play for more than seven hours daily, nearly double the OECD average of 5 percent. In contrast, countries such as Australia and Iceland report that fewer than 3 percent of students reach that level of intensity.
Intensive Gaming Links to Lower Academic Performance
The report highlights a complex relationship between digital entertainment and school performance. While moderate gaming—defined as one to three hours daily—is often associated with academic results that are similar or slightly better than those of students who play less, the trend shifts when usage becomes intensive.
“Video games can promote cognitive skills, creativity, and well-being, but intensive gaming is associated with lower academic performance, especially among girls and students from advantaged backgrounds,” the OECD stated.
OECD
The impact on academic outcomes appears more pronounced among female students and those from advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. The study also identifies distinct disparities in time spent gaming based on household resources. In 2025, male students from disadvantaged environments in OECD countries averaged 21 hours of gaming per week, compared to 17 hours for those from more affluent homes. A similar gap was observed among female students, who averaged 13 hours per week in disadvantaged households and nine hours in advantaged ones.
International Comparisons
The prevalence of gaming habits varies significantly across the member nations analyzed:
- High intensity: In addition to Chile, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Lithuania report that approximately one in three students plays for more than three hours daily.
- Moderate intensity: Austria and Iceland record 19 percent, while Italy sits at 20 percent.
- Low intensity: Spain and Switzerland report the lowest figures, with 17 percent and 18 percent of students, respectively, playing for more than three hours per day.
In some regions, a significant portion of the student population does not engage in gaming at all on weekdays. More than one-quarter of students in Slovakia, Czechia, and Slovenia report no gaming activity during a typical school day, a stark contrast to the United Kingdom, where fewer than one in seven students abstain from the activity.
Methodology and Scope
The research defines intensive gaming
as any session exceeding three hours during a standard weekday. Across the OECD, approximately 54 percent of students fall into the moderate category, while 26 percent engage in intensive use. A remaining 19 percent of students surveyed stated they do not play video games at all during a typical day of the week. The findings show that the overall impact of gaming depends heavily on the intensity of the behavior and the specific characteristics of the individual, factors the OECD suggests should be prioritized when evaluating the potential risks and benefits to adolescent development.