Galaxus survey: who reads the most books in Europe?

Reading is in again. At least that’s the impression conveyed by social media. Behind the hashtags such as Booktok or Bookstagram, readers are busy giving book recommendations or celebrating the joy of reading. But how much do Europeans really read? Do they opt for printed books or eBooks and which genres are most popular in which country?

5,060 people from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and France have answered these questions as part of a representative study conducted by market researcher YouGov Switzerland on behalf of online retailer Galaxus.

Switzerland is European champion in reading

Switzerland has the highest proportion of bookworms. Here, every other person reads at least four books a year. One in four even read ten or more. Switzerland owes its title as European reading champion to its female population: two out of three women read at least four books a year. Almost one in four devours more than 15 books a year. In the other countries surveyed, not even a fifth do so.

The French and Germans are comparatively lazy readers. In France and Germany, almost one in six people don’t consume any books at all. And in both countries, men between the ages of 45 and 59 are disproportionately represented.

Germany’s likely to remain at the lower end of the «frequent reader» rankings in the coming years: just over one in two people living in Germany would like to read more. This is the lowest figure in Europe.

In Switzerland, the figure is six out of ten, which means that Italy could soon knock Switzerland off the first place. More than seven out of ten Italians would like to read more – of which almost three out of ten would like to read considerably more.

Curious but prudish Switzerland

In almost all countries surveyed, novels are the most popular book genre, followed by crime novels and thrillers. The exception is Italy. There, people prefer to read crime novels and thrillers. Unlike the other countries, our southern neighbours read up to five times fewer novels than the rest of Europe.

It’s noticeable that the male/female ratio for crime and thrillers is almost 50/50 in all countries surveyed. Women, on the other hand, read novels much more frequently. In Switzerland, for example, four out of five women and only two out of five men do.

Austria and Switzerland are thirsty for knowledge and consume an above-average number of non-fiction books, while fantasy books such as The Lord of the Rings are very popular in Germany and Italy.

The Swiss cliche that people are prudish is confirmed in their choice of literature. Only four per cent of the local population say they enjoy reading erotic books. In Austria (11%), France (9%) and Germany (9%), the bookshelves are much hotter.

Gutenberg’s legacy lives on

Eight out of ten people in France, Italy and Switzerland most often consume printed books. Just 1 to 2 in ten read on their e-reader. On the other hand, in Germany and Austria, one in every five uses a Kindle, Tolino or similar device.

The survey also showed that Germans consume the most audio books, which reflects the fact they’re comparatively lazy readers – every tenth person in Germany listens to their books. Only Austria records a similarly high value. In Switzerland, on the other hand, only one in twenty people listen to books regularly.

Do you read books regularly or do you prefer to watch Netflix? Which book would you recommend to the Community? We’re looking forward to your tips in the comments.