We talk about this all the time, but rarely do we have actual stats. This is quoted from an English charity named Booktrust:

Headline statistics

Significant minorities of adults in England have negative attitudes towards reading:

• Nearly a fifth (18%) never read physical books, and 71% never read e-books.
• A fifth (20%) never buy physical books at all (in a shop or online).
• 36% often start a book but get bored and 35% cannot find the time to read.
• 56% think that the internet and computers will replace books in the next 20 years, the proportion with this view rises to 64% of 18 to 30 year olds.
• 27% prefer the internet and social media to reading books, rising to 56% among 18-30 year olds.
• 45% prefer television and DVDs to reading.

However, substantial sections of the population have more positive attitudes to reading:

• 76% say that reading improves their life, and the same number says it helps to make them feel good.
• 28% of adults read physical books every day, with a further 22% reading them at least weekly.
• 76% prefer to read physical books, only 10% prefer e-books.
• Nearly half (49%) enjoy reading books very much. A further 23% enjoy reading books quite a lot.
• More than half own upwards of 50 books, with around 200 owned on average.

Some translations:

• 80% buy physical books and read books

• A quarter read daily and a half read weekly

That’s not too shabby. I wonder how this applies to the US and Canada?

Related articles

• Survey shows deep class divide in reading habits (theguardian.com)
• New Survey Shows eBook Adoption at 29% in the UK (the-digital-reader.com)
• Reading, Wealth and Satisfaction (sites.wakingbraincells.com)