In Italy less than four out of 10 people read at least one book a year for reasons not related to school or work.
These are the – dramatic – data provided by Istat on the reading habits of Italians. Data that further collapse in the South, with the exception of Sardinia, the only region among those in the South-Islands area that roughly aligns with the national average.
THE DATA - In detail, in 2022, 39.3% of people over the age of six had read at least one book in the last year for reasons other than strictly academic or professional (there were 40.8% in 2021). On the island the percentage is 40%.
The habit of reading, as mentioned, is more widespread in the central-northern regions: in 2022 46.3% of people residing in the north-west read at least one book, 45.8% of those in the north-east and 42.4% of those who live in the Centre. Much lower numbers, as we mentioned, in the South, where the share of readers is 27.9% (24% in Sicily).
IN THE EU – The Italian numbers, as mentioned, are increasingly alarming, especially when compared with data from other European nations. Any examples? On average, a Norwegian reads 15 books a year; in Spain (2018 data) 67% of citizens over the age of 14 read it at least every three months, in Germany 6 out of 10 people read at least one a month.
LIBRARIES – Among the southern regions , Sardinia holds even in terms of the number of library visitors : on the island, use is equal to 11.5% of the population against an average of 5.7% recorded in the other southern regions. The use of libraries is also higher in this case in the northern regions (13.9%). In the Centre, the percentage is 9.2%).
THE IDENTIKIT OF THOSE WHO READ – The gender difference is relevant, underlines Istat: the percentage of female readers is 44%, that of male readers is 34.3%.
Again: 17.4% of people aged 6 and over are "weak" readers (they read a maximum of 3 books in a year), 15.4% are "average" readers (3-11 books in a year). Lastly, only 6.4% are "strong" readers (at least 12 books in the last year).
