259,132 years of phone chats in Japan

A total of 59.17bn calls were made from cellphones in the 12 months to April 1, 2012, with conversations lasting 2.27bn hours, a communications ministry official said. The figure is equivalent to 259,132 years.

The total number of hours of talking actually fell 1.8% from a year earlier, said the spokesman.

The ministry has carried out the survey every year since 1992 to help with decisions on infrastructure investment.