Italy is reading less and less. Female readers mostly, and in the south only 2 in 10 read at least one book a year

There are fewer and fewer readers in Italy: todayIstat published the results of its survey on Italians’ reading habits for 2018, and the data are not comforting. There are fewer and fewer readers: in 2018, only 40.6 percent of the population over the age of six read at least one book for reasons not strictly educational or professional. The figure is the second lowest in the past 15 years: the negative record is still that of 2016 (40.5 percent) while the most positive figure remains that of 2010 (46.8 percent). Females read more than males (46.2% vs. 34.7%), and the situation is dire in the south and islands: there the percentages drop to 26.7% (south) and 29.8% (islands), compared with 49.4% in the northwest, 48.4% in the northeast, and 43.5% in the center.

The class most fond of books? That of teenage girls, where the highest percentages are recorded: 63.6 percent of girls between 11 and 14 years old read at least one book a year (males in the same age group are 58.2 percent), and this rises to 64 percent for 15-17 year olds (54.5 percent males) and 63.9 percent for 18-19 year olds (54.3 percent males). The overall data, however, say that the best readers are precisely the boys in the 11-14 age group, 53.1% of the total. A habit that gradually drops with age: 38.3% the 20 to 24 age group, 37.8% the 25 to 34 age group, 32.9% the 35 to 44 age group, 31.5% the 45 to 54 age group, and then rises again slightly (32.8% the 55 to 59 age group, 33.8% the 60 to 64 age group, 32.3% the 65 to 74 age group) and collapses with the over-70s (24.2%).

As for the number of books, only 14.3% of readers (remember that the average is calculated, of course, on 40.6% of readers) read at least one book a month. That’s practically 4 out of every 100 Italians. 40.6 percent read only one book a year, while 46.5 percent read at most three. The regions of strong readers are Trentino-Alto Adige (21.5 percent of inhabitants who read at least one book a month), Valle d’Aosta (21.2 percent) and Friuli-Venezia Giulia (19 percent), while little is read in Calabria (6.8 percent who read at least 12 books a year), Campania (7 percent) and Puglia (7 percent). Strong readers are mainly college graduates: 19.1 percent of those with a college degree read at least 12 books a year, while it is 14.4 percent of high school graduates, 10.4 percent of those with an eighth-grade diploma and 12.3 percent of those with an elementary school diploma.

As for formats, 78.4% of readers read only paper books, while for 37.3% the paper book is an alternative option to the ebook (8.4% read in this format), and the audiobook (0.8%). Still, Italians do not go to the library: only 15.3% of Italians go there (and, as with all data, it is still females who are better than males: 17.2% vs. 13.2%). Those who do go, however, are inclined to do so often: the range of those who go to the library at least once a month is 35.4 percent. The numbers are higher in the student population groups: up to age 24, the percentages are always above 32.7 percent (with peaks of 39.3 percent for 18- and 19-year-olds), and then immediately plummet to 16 percent in the 25-34 age group. The library habit is most deeply rooted in Trentino-Alto Adige (35.4 percent of inhabitants frequent it), Valle d’Aosta (32.7 percent) and Emilia-Romagna (21.6 percent), while libraries are practically empty in Sicily (6.9 percent), Campania (7.7 percent) and Calabria (8 percent).

Italy is reading less and less. Female readers mostly, and in the south only 2 in 10 read at least one book a year

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