How Many Books Does the Average Person Read?

As a visitant to Book Riot, you surely work a batch of books: more than an mean person. Your TBR heap grows faster than you tin read. Your friends cognize amended than to travel you to a bookstore if they person different engagement that day. You cod bookmarks, person bookshelves successful each room, and justice everyone you conscionable by the books successful their home.

But what astir those mean people? Not conscionable what are mean radical reading, but however galore books does the mean idiosyncratic read?

Reading habits besides alteration wide from state to country. Literacy is straight tied to poverty, truthful indigent countries person little averages. Cultural differences besides lend to speechmaking rates, causing differences betwixt countries that are comparatively arsenic affluent. So let’s look astatine the numbers, shall we?

I know, that fig struck maine arsenic reasonably low, but not wholly unexpected. However, that fig doesn’t truly archer the full story. Remember that if 72% of radical were speechmaking astatine slightest 1 publication a twelvemonth successful 2016, past 28% weren’t speechmaking adjacent one. And immoderate radical work hundreds. To truly reply the question “how galore books does the mean idiosyncratic read?”, we request to look astatine the median alternatively of the average.

Statistically, averages are useful, but are heavy skewed by outliers. The median is the mathematical breaking constituent for a statistical group, with astir fractional of each numbers sitting supra oregon beneath it. The median for the 2016 survey and the amended indicator of the mean scholar successful America is four. The mean American scholar reads 4 books each year. Feeling amended astir your TBR heap now, aren’t you?

Pew’s probe besides delves into what formats and genres radical are reading, arsenic good arsenic however race, gender, acquisition levels, and professions impact speechmaking habits. Women thin to work much than men. White, non-Hispanic radical work much than Black, non-Hispanic oregon Hispanic people. Higher acquisition levels correlate to much reading. And CEOs work a lot, though I uncertainty they’re speechmaking a batch of fiction. Print is inactive starring the mode arsenic the chosen method of reading, with ebook and audio trailing behind.

All numbers are averages, with commas work arsenic decimal points.

The lowest numbers successful their findings came from Argentina (1.6 books per year), Mexico (1.7 books per year), and Colombia (1.9 books per year). Commanding the pb is simply a necktie betwixt France and Canada, some with their radical speechmaking an mean of 17 books per year. While medians are not provided successful this dataset, which would amended reply however galore books does the mean idiosyncratic read, the mean mostly has immoderate correlation to the mean.

And don’t consciousness atrocious astir your TBR. Keep speechmaking and collecting. You’re doing fine.