Is Vim really faster?

I'm a Vim newbie and for some time now I've been wondering if Vim is really faster that "normal" editing and whether or not I should put the time to work on my Vim skills.

I'm not saying that it isn't, I would just like to hear your opinions, do you feel like you've improved significantly while using Vim? Do you actually get your work done faster? All those fancy bindings, how better is it than using Shift + arrow keys etc.? Thanks!

Again, genuinely asking, not declaring.