Germans read 27 minutes a day

2024-10-15 21:52:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

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On average, Germans spend 27 minutes a day reading print or digital media, such as books, newspapers or e-books. This was announced by the Federal Statistical Office on the occasion of the Book Fair in Frankfurt. The figures are from 2022 and the survey focuses on people aged ten and over who read outside of school or work.

Data from ten years ago shows that people spent 32 minutes a day reading, five minutes more than in 2022.

More than two hours in front of the TV

People spend much more time in front of the TV: with an average of two hours and eight minutes, in 2022 more than four times as much time was spent watching TV than reading. The average daily time spent watching television has increased by four minutes in a ten-year comparison.

The older people get, the more time they spend reading

When people read, they read more books. On average, they spend twelve minutes a day reading books. In the case of newspapers, the average was nine minutes a day.

According to data from the Federal Statistics Office, adults spend significantly more time reading as they age: with an average of 54 minutes, people over 65 spend a lot of time reading. In contrast, people between the ages of 45 and 64 spent only half as much time reading: 26 minutes a day. Between the ages of 30 and 44 they read only 13 minutes.

Young people aged 18 to 29 spend two minutes less per day reading than those aged 30 and over. In contrast, children and young people aged 10 to 17 read 19 minutes a day, which puts them at the average level in terms of reading time.

Girls and women read more

Girls and women also lead when it comes to reading: their average reading time is 30 minutes, compared to 24 minutes for boys and men.

The time use survey is conducted on a voluntary basis approximately every ten years. All participating household members over the age of ten record their use in a diary or app on three specific days – two of them during the week and one during the weekend – documenting their specific activities throughout the day