One in five adults reads ten Books per year, one in five young people never read again

Their style, their genre or the intellectual interest they arouse do not matter… You will discover in the latest issue of Moustique that Books remain, for those who find refuge in them, an ideal stepping stone towards relaxation and towards reflection.

Here, the latest survey by Stabel, the Belgian statistical office, shows the figures of 19% – that of people declaring to have read ten books or more during the year 2022 – and 24% – that of respondents declaring having read between one and four books during the same period. Observed closely by publishing professionals, the practice of reading nevertheless tends to decline.

In France, the latest survey by the National Book Center shows that one in five young people never read during their leisure time. 16-19 year olds read twelve minutes a day when the overall daily time spent on screens is three hours and eleven minutes. A figure which rises to five hours and ten minutes in this same group of 16-19 year olds. The observation is the same in Great Britain where the recent edition of the “What Kids Are Reading” report also highlights a decline in reading among the new generation. But when they read, young people are passionate about books whose production takes special account of their tastes which fluctuate between manga, fantasy and new romance. Omnipresent trends in bookstores which remain important places of exchange where customers' choices take place. The proof is the first Prize for Independent Bookstores, the creation of which has just been announced by the Union of French-speaking booksellers of Belgium.