[Find updated statistics for 2018 here]
The results for one of our most popular research studies are in. You want to know how Canadians are spending their free time? We want to tell you.
Every winter BookNet runs a survey to see how Canadians are spending their leisure time. In 2017, we asked 750 respondents some general questions on the subject but the focus was on their book-reading and -listening habits.
Here's what they told us.
How Canadians are spending their leisure time
Canadians ranked reading as their 5th most popular choice for spending their free time. Reading (22%) came in behind browsing the internet (33%), spending time with family (32%), watching TV (31%), and watching a movie (23%). These results are pretty similar to the answers from the previous three years.
Have Canadians read a book in the last year?
In 2017, 82% of respondents said they had read or listened to a book in the last year. This number is virtually unchanged from the previous year. And while the percentage of people who say they have read a book in the past year has been trending down slightly since 2014, the numbers are only barely outside the margin of error.
Has your reading increased or decreased from the previous year?
Most readers (44%) said the number of books they read/listened to in the past year stayed close to the same as the year previous, but 38% said it increased. This is up almost 5% over the previous year. Also, those reporting that their reading has decreased from the previous year went down by 3% from 20% to 17%.
Join us next week when we'll take more of a deep dive into the preferences and activities of Canadian readers.
The format preferences of Canadian buyers, borrowers, and readers.