What exactly is considered "instrument time" for an instrument rating?
I think you are conflating two different things. Most IFR rated pilots have very little actual instrument time. Even airline pilots who fly in all kinds of weather have a low percentage of their time in the clouds. A lot of it has to do with where they fly—at over 30,000' they are often above the clouds. I would imagine that it varies a lot with the type of flying that the commercial pilot does. A freight hauler in the Northeast probably has a lot more instrument time than one in Arizona. Likewise, someone who flies their small aircraft a lot on business might have relatively more actual instrument time simply because they will be flying in the weather rather than above it.

If you look at the instrument requirements in CFR Part 61, the training requirements for the Instrument say "…hours of instrument training using a view-limiting device…". So it is possible to get your instrument rating with 40 hours of flying "under the hood" and never fly in actual instrument conditions. (You can also get some hours in a flight simulator.)  And when you take your practical test for these ratings, you will be flying under the hood and not in actual instrument conditions.

The same language is used in the Commercial rating as well. In fact, you could have a CFI who has never flown in actual instrument conditions teach you how to fly IFR!

To get an instrument rating you need 40 hours of hood time. Only 15 hours of this is required to be with an instructor. Lots of people save money on their rating by flying with a pilot friend or fellow student.

Once you have your instrument rating, you need to maintain currency by flying 6 approaches, holding patterns, and tracking courses in actual instrument conditions or with a view-limiting device. If you listen to the radio on a nice weekend, you will hear lots of pilots requesting practice approaches to maintain currency. Usually they are flying with a friend rather than an instructor.