This map shows the percentage of people who read at least 10 books over the last 12 months. It is based on data from Eurostat for 2011 for most countries. Individual sources were used for the United Kingdom (2014), France (2018), Switzerland (2017), Belgium (2013), the Netherlands (2018), Denmark (2020) and Norway (2016).
Unfortunately I could not find similar data for the USA, which would have been an interesting comparison. I could find that 27% of Americans never read and that Americans read in average 12 books per year, but a small percentage of heavy readers appear to pull up this mean value as the median value is only five books (so half of Americans read at most 5 books per year).
Unfortunately I could not find similar data for the USA, which would have been an interesting comparison. I could find that 27% of Americans never read and that Americans read in average 12 books per year, but a small percentage of heavy readers appear to pull up this mean value as the median value is only five books (so half of Americans read at most 5 books per year).
Last edited: