I saw an interesting infographic from Global English Editing about reading habits in 2020, especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The best thing about it was that many people worldwide have been able to read more and learn new things during this crazy time.
According to their research, 35% of the world has read more because of lockdowns and social distancing; 14% of people said they read significantly more.
Here are a few other highlights:
- People in the millennial (born between 1981 and 1996) and Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) generations have read the most.
- The U.S. ranks second in publishing the most books each year, with almost 305,000. China is first with 440,000.
- People in India read the most, saying they spend almost 11 hours reading each week. The U.S. is at #22 with just under 6 hours per week, which makes me a little sad but isn’t necessarily surprising. My reading time obviously isn’t factored into that!
- And one of my favorite stats: There were 1.51 billion visits to book and literature ecommerce sites across the world in March (yes, billion with a “b” and only in March!). According to their data, this was an increase of 8.5% from February (before countries began lockdowns).
I’m always reading something but have read even more during the last nine months. Not spending two (or more) hours on a commute has definitely helped that cause!
Check out the full rundown of stats. Where do you fit into these categories? Have you dug into books more, less, or about the same since the spring? I’d love to know.