Time spent on the internet in the U.S. is now flat, with growth coming mostly from countries still catching up, according to Nielsen/NetRatings data covered by Internet Retailer. Americans with access spend about 14 hours online each month on average. With 12 countries in the survey, people from Hong Kong spent the most time online (22 hours) and Italians spent the least (8 hours). The biggest growth came from Hong Kong, France, Australia and Italy. A NetImperative account of the data showed that the U.S. time spent online actually declined two percent in 2004. In the U.K. it increased only eight percent.