40% haven't read a book in the past year

[Kyng]

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/two-i...data-shows

YouGov polling has shown that the median Briton has only read or listened to three books, with 40% of the public not reading or listening to a single book in the past year.

The research into reading habits comes days away from World Book Day on Thursday (7th March). The sample size for the survey was 2,121 adults in UK, and the field work was done on 29th and 30th January 2025.

A quarter of Britons (23%) revealed they have read or listened to between one and five books in the past year, with a further 10% reading or listening to between six and 10, and an extra 10% consuming between 11 and 20 books. “There are a small number of mega-readers, with 4% saying they have read more than 50 books, i.e. roughly one or more books a week on average,” YouGov said.

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I'm honestly rather surprised by this... I'm not much of a reader, and yet I still read at least a couple of books every year! I can't imagine what it'd be like not to read books *at all*.

What about you?

[slooroo]

Reading and writing has been on a huge decline for some time now due to other forms of entertainment. I think it's unfortunate because reading (personal opinion) is still a superior form of entertainment and learning most of the time.

[Deleted User 1776]

That is wild

[Bryn]

I'd like to count myself as one of the 40%... I generally don't read books

[MegaphoneStallone]

I used to read a book every two weeks.
Now I don't think I've attempted one since 2021...Or completed one since 2016, which would have been the first since 2012.

Also part of the 40%

[Kyng]

I used to read a book every two weeks.
Now I don't think I've attempted one since 2021...Or completed one since 2016, which would have been the first since 2012.

Also part of the 40%

Yeah, I'm guessing a large part of this is simply some people being too busy to read. For all the arguments that it's a 'superior' form of entertainment, it is quite time-intensive. In the time it takes to read a medium-length novel, you could probably watch at least three films!

[slooroo]

Yeah, I'm guessing a large part of this is simply some people being too busy to read. For all the arguments that it's a 'superior' form of entertainment, it is quite time-intensive. In the time it takes to read a medium-length novel, you could probably watch at least three films!

Unless it's a super long book I can read an average novel in a week or two depending on how complex it is and I only read maybe 30 minutes a day tops. I don't see it as any more time consuming than people who sit and binge tv, movies, or video games for hours on end. Not that a person is legally obligated to read, just I don't think it's necessarily any more time consuming than any other media.

[Kyng]

Yeah, I'm guessing a large part of this is simply some people being too busy to read. For all the arguments that it's a 'superior' form of entertainment, it is quite time-intensive. In the time it takes to read a medium-length novel, you could probably watch at least three films!

Unless it's a super long book I can read an average novel in a week or two depending on how complex it is and I only read maybe 30 minutes a day tops. I don't see it as any more time consuming than people who sit and binge tv, movies, or video games for hours on end. Not that a person is legally obligated to read, just I don't think it's necessarily any more time consuming than any other media.

Yeah, TV can be pretty time-intensive too, especially if you're binging a series (but that's one reason why I never binge: I never watch more than two episodes of a show back to back, unless it's really good!!!)

Gaming... I think that varies wildly . Sure, the big AAA titles take faaaaaar longer to play all the way through than the average novel - but, there are plenty of shorter games, for people who don't have too much time. (At the extreme end, you have things like Wordle, that only take a couple of minutes per play!)

[Opal Fruit]

Reading is one of life's greatest pleasures, surely! Great to relax with a good book. It's a shame people are missing out that might really take to it.

[JHG]

Watching a video allows one to see something happening; A cow mooing in your face doesn’t compare to just reading about cows.
Also, the amount of readers would be way higher if required reading lists didn’t exist.