This statistic displays the frequency of reading for pleasure among adults in Scotland in 2017. Among respondents, ** percent read for pleasure, which did not include newspapers, magazines or comics, at least once a week, whereas ** percent did so less often than once a week, but at least once a month.

The country reported to have read books most regularly in 2017 was China, where a survey among internet users across ** countries revealed that ** percent of respondents read a book every day or most days, and ** percent read at least once a week. Conversely, just ** percent of South Korean respondents were reading books on a daily basis. Other countries with a low share of those aged 15 years or above reading daily included Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands and Mexico.

Age and reading habits

It is surprising how much age can affect reading habits, even on a global level. In Germany, more 12 to 13-year-olds read daily or several times per week than their slightly older peers. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, a survey showed that more teenagers and Millennials said that they would be happy without books than adults aged 34 or older. More than double the percentage of adults in Colombia aged 65 or above read a book every day than those aged between 12 and 25 years.

The number of books read over the past year in the United States was overall higher among adults aged 18 to 34 than older generations, and in Canada the share of children reading books for fun halved with the approach of teenage years. Whilst ** percent of children aged between six and eight years old were reading for pleasure multiple times per week, among ** to 17-year-olds this figure amounted to just ** percent. Meanwhile, the opposite was true of going online for fun, which increased sharply with age and replaced the activity of reading.

In Portugal, ** percent of leisure readers read books weekly, with the majority of these doing it daily or almost. ** percent of the people who read for pleasure in 2024 had a monthly reading frequency, whereas ** percent read less often than once a month.

This statistic shows where people read for pleasure in England in 2013. Among respondents, 51 percent reported reading in bed, while while 8 percent of respondents reported reading on public transport.

This statistic represents the results of a survey concerning the activities people in France would do if they had one extra day during the week in 2021. More than 30 percent of respondents declared that they would go out with friends and 13 percent stated that they would read a book.