Hours spent reading books around the world

by: Carolyn Kellogg

An infographic of time spent reading around the world. (Russia Beyond the Headlines)

How many hours a week do you read?


If it's 10 hours or more, you might try moving to India -- you'll be among your people. According to this infographic, Indians spend more time reading books than the residents of any other nation. Each week, the average Indian reads for 10 hours, 42 minutes.

Americans read books only about half that amount: 5 hours and 42 minutes. Interestingly, Americans and Germans spend exactly the same amount of time reading.

The big reading nations, after India, are Thailand (9 hours, 24 minutes), China (8 hours), the Philippines (7 hours, 36 minutes), Egypt (7.5 hours) and the Czech Republic (7 hours, 24 minutes).

Of the 30 nations surveyed, Koreans spent the least time reading: 3 hours, 16 minutes each week.

The data comes from the World Culture Score Index from a survey of 30,000 people worldwide. Americans were 23rd in reading books, sixth in watching TV, and 19th in using the Internet for non-work purposes.

Since the survey was taken in late 2004 and early 2005, it would be interesting to see if, and how, any of those measures changed.

The infographic was created by Russia Behind the Headlines and spotted by Publishing Perspectives.

from: LA Times