The Pie Charts show why African teenagers use their phones between 2016 to 2019

The pie charts illustrate the reasons why teenagers in an African country used mobile phones between 2016 and 2019.

Overall, the main purpose throughout the period was accessing social networks, while the proportion of teenagers using phones for calls declined noticeably by the end of the survey.

In 2016, exactly half of teenagers reported using phones for social networking. This figure dipped marginally to 48% in 2017, but subsequently rose to 51% in 2018 and peaked at 56% in 2019, making it the dominant activity. By contrast, email use started at 25% in 2016 and remained stable in 2017, before dropping sharply to 20% in 2018, where it then stabilized.

Photography was another significant purpose. Teenagers using phones for taking pictures accounted for 15% in both 2016 and 2017, after which the figure increased steadily to 18% in 2018 and 20% in 2019. Conversely, phone calls were the least consistent reason, rising from 10% in 2016 to 13% in 2017, but then falling to 11% and finally just 5% by 2019.