One third of the population reads a book every day

Icelanders read or listen to an average of 2.4 books a month, and almost one third of the population reads a book every day or more often, according to the results of a survey on the nation’s attitude towards reading.

The Center for Icelandic Literature in collaboration with the Reykjavík City Library, the Icelandic Publishers’ Association, Hagþenkir – The Association of Non Fiction and Educational Writers in Iceland, The National Library, the  University Library, Reykjavík City of Literature, UNESCO and the Icelandic Association of Literature Authors, were behind the survey.

A similar study has been conducted annually since 2017, but if the results of the last six years are examined, it shows that the group that never reads a book is  growing, while the group that reads a lot is also growing.

Women Read More Than Men

According to this year’s survey results, women read more than men and older people read more than younger. The average number of books read a month increases from last year and currently stands at 2.4 books compared to 2.3 books last year.

About 65% of the population read only in Icelandic or more often in Icelandic than in another language, a slight change from last year’s figure, which was 58%. In addition, about 18% read about as often in Icelandic as in another language, about 14% read more often in another language than Icelandic, and about 3% read only in another language.

Over a third of the population has used library services in the last 12 months. Women use library services more often than men and those with two or more children in their homes use libraries more often than others.