Americans at home during February spent slightly less time on the Internet than they did a year earlier, while Asians and Europeans spent more time surfing the Web at home, Nielsen//NetRatings said Friday.
U.S. Web users averaged 13 hours and 44 minutes online in February, down 2 percent from a year earlier.
In Hong Kong, users posted the biggest increase as well as the most time spent online. Their home Web usage increased 25 percent in February to 21 hours and 53 minutes.
Internet surfers in France spent 19 percent more time on the Web, logging 14 hours and 26 minutes.
Italy home usage jumped 15 percent to almost 8 hours, while Web surfers in Japan spent 12 percent more time online to log an average of 14 hours and 51 minutes per month.
The study from the research firm tracked home Web usage in 12 countries that account for more than 70 percent of the world's Internet use. Among those countries, only the U.S. saw a decline in the time home Internet users spent online.