Are People Reading Less? Americans are spending less time reading for pleasure each day, but that does not mean only a small minority ever reads books. A 2025 analysis of American Time Use Survey data found that the share of people aged 15 and older who read for personal interest on an average day fell from 28% in 2004 to 16% in 2023 (American Time Use Survey analysis, PMC).
That measure captures daily leisure reading, not whether someone read a book at any point during the year. In this guide, I separate those measures, identify the actual year behind each dataset, and explain what U.S. reading statistics can and cannot tell us about print books, ebooks, audiobooks, age groups, and children’s reading in the UK.
Reading statistics at a glance
- Daily leisure reading in the U.S. declined from 28% in 2004 to 16% in 2023 among people covered by the American Time Use Survey analysis (PMC).
- This is a daily-activity measure. It should not be treated as the percentage of Americans who read at least one book during a year.
- Pew Research Center’s 2021 survey found that 75% of U.S. adults had read at least part of a book in the previous 12 months. The figure included print books, ebooks, and audiobooks (Pew Research Center).
- Print remained the most widely used book format in that Pew survey, while ebooks and audiobooks reached separate groups of readers. Percentages can overlap because one person may use more than one format.
- UK children’s data measures several different things, including enjoyment, frequency, and reading skill. Those measures should not be combined into a single claim that all children are reading less.
Key Reading Statistics at a Glance
The table below brings together measurements that are often mixed together in online discussions. The figures come from different studies and years, so they should be compared carefully rather than added together.
| Statistic | Population | Data year | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read for personal interest on an average day | U.S. people aged 15 and older covered by the study | 2004 | 28% | American Time Use Survey analysis |
| Read for personal interest on an average day | Same U.S. population | 2023 | 16% | American Time Use Survey analysis |
| Read at least part of one book in the previous 12 months | U.S. adults | 2021 | 75% | Pew Research Center |
| Read a print book in the previous 12 months | U.S. adults | 2021 | 65% | Pew Research Center |
| Read an ebook in the previous 12 months | U.S. adults | 2021 | 30% | Pew Research Center |
| Listened to an audiobook in the previous 12 months | U.S. adults | 2021 | 23% | Pew Research Center |
| Children who enjoy reading in their free time | UK children aged 8 to 18 | 2023/24 | 53.0% | National Literacy Trust |
The first two figures measure daily behavior.
The Pew figures measure whether adults read or listened to at least part of a book over a year. The UK statistic concerns children’s enjoyment, which is different from reading proficiency or the number of books completed.
Are People Reading Less?
Daily leisure reading has declined in the United States, based on long-running time-use data. The most direct evidence comes from the American Time Use Survey, which records how people spend a particular day. A 2025 study using those data reported a fall in personal-interest reading from 28% of the covered population in 2004 to 16% in 2023 (PMC).
That is a substantial change. It suggests that reading for pleasure has become less common as a daily activity. It does not show that 84% of Americans never read, nor does it tell us how many books people finished over a year.
Chart 1: U.S. daily reading for pleasure
| Year | Share reading for personal interest on an average day |
|---|---|
| 2004 | 28% |
| 2023 | 16% |
Source: American Time Use Survey analysis. The study reports these observed years. Intermediate values are not included here because the supplied evidence does not establish a complete annual series.
A second point matters: fewer people reading on the day surveyed is not the same as readers spending fewer minutes reading. A person might read for pleasure on only one or two days each week, or read in longer sessions at weekends. A daily participation measure cannot answer that question by itself.
The same caution applies when comparing daily reading with annual readership. Pew Research Center found that 75% of U.S. adults had read at least part of a book during the previous 12 months in 2021 (Pew Research Center). That result can coexist with a lower daily reading rate. Someone who reads one book in a year counts in the annual measure, but usually will not appear as a reader on a randomly selected day.
The definitions also differ. Time-use surveys ask about activities during a reference day. Book surveys ask respondents to recall reading or listening during a longer period. Recall, question wording, age coverage, and the treatment of partial books can all affect the result.
Based on the available data, the safest conclusion is narrow: daily leisure reading has fallen over time, while annual book readership remains much higher than the daily figure suggests. The data do not support the simpler claim that Americans have stopped reading books.
How Many Books Do Americans Read Each Year?
Most U.S. adults reported reading at least part of a book during the previous year in Pew Research Center’s 2021 survey. The survey found that 75% had read at least part of one book in the preceding 12 months, while 25% had not read any book in that period (Pew Research Center).
Pew counted print books, ebooks, and audiobooks. It also asked about books read in whole or in part, so the result is not the same as the percentage who completed an entire book. That distinction matters when comparing book reading statistics from different surveys.
The survey also found that the typical U.S. adult read four books in the previous year, based on the median reported number. The average was 12 books (Pew Research Center).
The gap between those figures illustrates the effect of heavy readers: a smaller group reporting many books can pull the average upward, while the median shows the midpoint of the distribution.
For example, if most respondents read between one and six books but a smaller number read dozens, the arithmetic average will rise more than the typical respondent’s experience. That is why the median is often more useful when answering, “How many books does the average person read?”
The 2021 survey should not be presented as a current 2026 measurement. It is the latest figure used in this article for this specific comparison.
A newer survey may use different questions, populations, or definitions. Therefore, readers should check the fieldwork year before comparing a new headline figure with Pew’s results.
Reading Habits by Age: Who Reads the Most?
Age comparisons depend on the measure used. A person may read more books, use more than one format, or be more likely to read at least once a year. Those are separate outcomes.
Pew Research Center’s 2021 survey provides comparable adult age groups for annual book and format use. The table below reports the share in each group who used the listed format during the previous 12 months.
| Age group | Read any book | Read print | Read ebooks | Listened to audiobooks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-29 | 81% | 64% | 37% | 28% |
| 30-49 | 82% | 68% | 35% | 27% |
| 50-64 | 72% | 64% | 28% | 23% |
| 65+ | 67% | 63% | 19% | 15% |
Source: Pew Research Center, 2021.
The table shows that adults aged 30 to 49 and 18 to 29 reported the highest annual book readership in this survey. It also shows a clear age pattern for ebooks and audiobooks: younger adults were more likely than older adults to report using those formats.
That does not prove that younger people read more pages or spend more time with books. The survey measures whether respondents read or listened to at least part of a book in the previous year. It does not rank generations by literary quality, concentration, or total reading time.
The print figures are comparatively close across the age groups. That matters because digital formats have expanded without eliminating print use. A respondent can read a paperback, use an ebook, and listen to an audiobook in the same year. Format percentages describe overlapping behaviors rather than exclusive categories.
Print Books vs Ebooks vs Audiobooks
Print remains widely used
Print was the most commonly reported book format in Pew’s 2021 U.S. adult survey. Sixty-five percent of adults said they had read a print book during the previous 12 months (Pew Research Center).
Print books can be borrowed, purchased, shared, annotated, or kept. The survey does not identify one reason why readers choose print, so claims about comfort, concentration, or ownership should not be treated as findings from this dataset.
Book format use by age group, U.S. adults, 2021
Share of adults who read or listened to at least part of a book in the previous 12 months, by format
| Age group | Any book | Ebook | Audiobook | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-29 | 81% | 64% | 37% | 28% |
| 30-49 | 82% | 68% | 35% | 27% |
| 50-64 | 72% | 64% | 28% | 23% |
| 65+ | 67% | 63% | 19% | 15% |
Ebooks have expanded their reach
Thirty percent of U.S. adults reported reading an ebook in 2021. The figure includes people who read at least part of an ebook during the previous year (Pew Research Center).
Ebooks are particularly useful for portability and adjustable text, but the survey does not measure why each respondent used the format. It also does not show that ebook use replaces print. Many readers use both.
Audiobooks offer another way to read
Twenty-three percent of U.S. adults said they listened to an audiobook in 2021. Audiobook listening was higher among younger adults than older adults in the same survey (Pew Research Center).
Audio changes the activity being measured. A listener may consume a book while travelling, exercising, doing household work, or resting. Whether that experience should be described as “reading” depends on the question being asked. For annual book readership, Pew includes audiobooks in its overall measure.
Chart 2: U.S. adults using book formats in 2021
| Format | Share of U.S. adults |
|---|---|
| Print books | 65% |
| Ebooks | 30% |
| Audiobooks | 23% |
Source: Pew Research Center.
Note: Readers can use multiple formats, so the percentages do not need to total 100%.
The most accurate summary is that print remained widely used, while ebooks and audiobooks served substantial additional audiences. The format story is therefore different from the daily-frequency story. A decline in daily leisure reading does not automatically mean that readers are abandoning paper books, and format growth does not prove that total reading time has increased.
Are Children Reading Less? Evidence From the UK
UK children’s reading trends require separate measures because enjoyment, frequency, and reading ability are different outcomes. The National Literacy Trust’s annual survey of children and young people asks about reading habits and attitudes rather than providing a direct equivalent to the U.S. time-use measure.
In the 2023/24 survey, 53.0% of children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time (National Literacy Trust). The organization reported that this remained below the level recorded when its long-running survey began.
The latest year should still be read carefully.
A one-year rise or fall can differ from the longer pattern. The survey also reports differences by age, with younger children generally more likely to say they enjoy reading than older children and teenagers.
Exact age-group results should be taken from the relevant survey table rather than inferred from the overall percentage.
Chart 3: UK children’s reading enjoyment
| Measure | Population | 2023/24 result |
|---|---|---|
| Enjoy reading in free time | UK children and young people aged 8 to 18 | 53.0% |
Source: National Literacy Trust, Children and Young People’s Reading in 2023/24.
The National Literacy Trust’s measure is about enjoyment. It does not mean that 47% of children cannot read, and it should not be used as a reading-proficiency statistic. Proficiency is assessed through different tests and educational measures.
Likewise, enjoying reading does not establish how often a child reads, how many books they finish, or what type of material they choose.
The UK evidence supports a concern about children’s reading engagement, but it does not justify transferring the result to U.S. adults. The countries, age groups, questions, and collection periods differ.
Why Are Reading Habits Changing?
The statistics show a change in reading behavior, but they do not identify one single cause. Several explanations are plausible, yet they should be kept separate from findings directly demonstrated by the surveys.
Competition from other leisure activities
People have more ways to spend discretionary time than reading. Screen-based entertainment, social media, online video, games, and other digital activities can compete with books. However, the daily reading study does not, by itself, prove that smartphones or any particular platform caused the decline. It establishes an association between time-use patterns and lower participation in personal-interest reading (PMC).
That distinction matters. A study can show that reading declined while another activity increased without proving that the second activity displaced the first for every individual.
Time pressures and daily routines
Work, commuting, family responsibilities, education, health, and sleep all shape when people can read. Time-use data are useful because they place reading beside other daily activities, but a single reference day may not represent a person’s normal week.
A reader who finishes several chapters on Saturday may not be captured as a reader on Tuesday. In contrast, annual book surveys capture a much broader period but depend more heavily on memory and self-reporting.
Access to books and encouragement to read
Access to libraries, affordable books, suitable reading material, and supportive adults can affect whether people begin and maintain reading habits. The UK National Literacy Trust’s work treats children’s reading enjoyment as connected to wider reading experiences, but the annual survey does not support a simple causal ranking of every influence (National Literacy Trust).
Encouragement also has to fit the reader. A child who dislikes assigned texts may still enjoy comics, magazines, fan fiction, audiobooks, or nonfiction about a personal interest. A similar principle applies to adults. A short mystery, graphic novel, essay collection, or audiobook may be a more realistic starting point than a long classic.
The evidence therefore supports a measured conclusion: daily leisure reading is less common than it was in 2004, but the causes are likely to involve time, access, preferences, and competing activities. The available statistics do not justify blaming one technology or claiming that every reader has changed in the same way.
What the Numbers Mean for Readers
The reading statistics suggest that the problem is often frequency, not total disappearance. Many people still read books during a year, even if reading does not appear in their routine every day.
When I want to rebuild a reading habit, I start with an existing interest rather than an abstract target. Choose a subject, author, genre, or question you already care about.
Then set a small routine, such as ten pages before bed or one audiobook chapter during a commute. If print is inconvenient, try an ebook or audio. The 2021 Pew results show that these formats reach overlapping audiences (Pew Research Center).
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Frequently Asked Questions
Are people reading fewer books?
The answer depends on the measure. Daily leisure reading in the U.S. fell from 28% in 2004 to 16% in 2023, according to an analysis of American Time Use Survey data (PMC). Yet 75% of U.S. adults reported reading at least part of a book during the previous 12 months in 2021 (Pew Research Center).
What percentage of Americans read books?
Pew Research Center found that 75% of U.S. adults read at least part of one book in the previous 12 months in its 2021 survey (Pew Research Center). The result includes print books, ebooks, and audiobooks. It does not mean that 75% completed a full book.
Which age group reads the most?
In Pew’s 2021 survey, adults aged 30 to 49 and 18 to 29 had the highest shares reporting that they read at least part of a book during the previous year (Pew Research Center). That finding concerns annual participation, not total pages, reading quality, or daily reading time.
Are print books becoming less popular?
Print remained the most widely used format in Pew’s 2021 survey, with 65% of U.S. adults reporting that they read a print book during the previous year (Pew Research Center). Ebooks and audiobooks were also common, but the format percentages overlap. The evidence does not show print disappearing.
Sources and Methodology
This article uses three main sources. The U.S. daily-reading comparison comes from a 2025 analysis of American Time Use Survey data, using observations from 2004 and 2023 (PMC). The U.S. annual readership and format figures come from Pew Research Center’s 2021 survey of American adults (Pew Research Center). The UK children’s figures come from the National Literacy Trust’s 2023/24 survey of children and young people aged 8 to 18 (National Literacy Trust).
The measures are not interchangeable. Daily participation, annual book exposure, format use, enjoyment, reading frequency, and proficiency describe different behaviors.
Survey responses are self-reported, and the studies use different populations, questions, and collection periods. This article does not combine them into a single global reading rate.
