How much time has passed in Breaking Bad?

Exactly two years, by the end of the 5th season. Season 1 starts off with Walt's 50th birthday. enter image description here. When Walt comes back to Albuquerque in the end of Season 5, he starts of the day by celebrating his 52nd birthday: enter image description here. read more

(1) and (2) together imply that the series spanned at least at least 2y 30d. This contradicts (3). Given this contradiction, it is not possible to arrive at any conclusion regarding how much time has passed in Breaking Bad. Q.E.D. read more

It's been on for three and half years, but it's only covered 31 weeks. read more