60% of Online Population Reads Books Either Daily or at Least Once a Week [GfK study]

PR67905

NUREMBERG, Germany, Mar. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

    - China has highest percentage of "every day" book readers

    -Netherlands and South Korea tie for the highest percentage who say they

never read books

    -Women are more likely to be avid book readers than men

    A 17-country report just released by global market analysts, GfK, shows

that 30 percent of the international online population read books "every day or

most days". This is led by China at 36 percent, closely followed by Spain and

the UK at 32 percent each. However, if the segment is widened to include both

daily readers and those who read "at least once a week", the international

total rises to 59 percent, with China firmly in the lead (70 percent of its

population), followed by Russia (59 percent) and Spain (57

Percent).

    High income households read books more regularly than low income

    Over a third (35 percent) of people in high income households say they read

books 'every or most days', compared to a quarter (24 percent) of those in low

income households. Added to this, one in ten people in low income households

claim that they 'never' read books; triple the percentage reported in high

income households (three percent).

    Women are more likely to be avid book readers than men

    Overall, 32 percent of women report reading books every or most days,

compared to 27 percent of men. This gender gap amongst the daily book readers

is widest in the Netherlands (30 percent of women versus 14 percent of men) and

Spain (40 percent of women versus 25 percent of men) , followed by Canada (36

percent of women versus 23 percent of men) and Germany (31 percent of women

versus 19 percent of men).

    Non-readers for books highest in Netherlands and South Korea

    The Netherlands and South Korea have the highest percentage of their online

population who report never reading books, standing at 16 percent each. In

South Korea, this is fairly evenly divided between men and women, but in the

Netherlands it is heavily led by men, with 23 percent never reading books,

compared to just 9 percent of women. The countries with the next highest

proportion of those who never read boooks are Belgium (14

percent), and Canada, France and Japan (all 11 percent).

    Mathias Giloth in GfK Entertainment, comments, "The value of these findings

for the book industry lies in combining this self-reported data with analysis

of actual sales across different markets and insights from our retail and

consumer panels. With this multi-layered approach, we help our clients to

fine-tune their audience segmentation and identify customer potential, both

globally and at country-specific level."

    Download GfK's complimentary report with over 80 charts showing the full

findings for each country by income, gender and age groups:

http://www.gfk.com/global-studies/global-study-overview

    About the study: GfK conducted the online survey with over 22,000 consumers

aged 15 or older across 17 countries in summer 2016.

SOURCE: GfK