A new survey from Gallup in December reveals that Americans reportedly read just 12.6 books each on average last year, down from the 15.6 average that was reported during the last survey in 2016.The data includes all forms of books, including printed books but also electronic books and audiobooks.
Book worms unite
Gallup notes that the "decline in book reading is mostly a function of how many books readers are reading, as opposed to fewer Americans reading any books". Indeed, the latest survey showed 17% of US adults did not read any books in the past year, which is pretty much exactly the same as the proportion that didn't read from previous surveys.
Reading optimists could argue that it's possible that everyone is just reading longer but fewer books than they used to, but when the data is combined with the fact that just 6% of US adults named reading as their favorite way to spend an evening, down from 12% in 2016, the diagnosis for reading as a hobby gets a little worse.
Separately, the survey also found that women read more than men, with women getting through 15.7 books last year, compared to an average of 9.5 for men. 18-34 year-olds were found to read more than any other age group (although only marginally). Full data here.
