People Are Speaking 28% Fewer Words a Day Than in 2005, University of Arizona Study Finds

A study by University of Arizona psychology researchers has found that people are speaking far fewer words to each other in daily life than they used to. Analyzing data spanning 2005 to 2019, the researchers found the average number of words a person speaks per day fell by 28% over that 15-year period, a decline of roughly 338 words per year on average.

While mobile phones and social media are often blamed for the decline, the researchers point to a more direct cause: everyday conversations have increasingly been replaced by automated systems. Self-checkout machines at stores, food-ordering apps, and GPS-guided navigation have eliminated much of the small talk that once happened with strangers in shops and on the street.

The finding emerged when researchers revisited an earlier line of research on how many words men and women speak in a day. A 2007 study found that a person spoke an average of 15,900 words per day; new data from 2019 put that figure at 12,700. The researchers confirmed the trend by comparing data from 22 different studies involving about 2,200 people.

Psychologists warn that text messages typed and sent on a phone can never replace face-to-face conversation, since the emotions, laughter and vocal tone that emerge only in direct speech are absent from text. As face-to-face talking declines in daily life, researchers say social problems such as loneliness and stress are increasing rapidly worldwide.