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Shocking new survey reveals 40% of Brits haven’t read a single book in the last year

4%, however, claimed they've read more than 50 books in the last year.

Emily Sergeant - 11th March 2025

A shocking new survey has revealed that 40% of Brits haven’t read a single book within the last year alone.

Reading is a lifeline for some, it’s a chance to delve into a story, open your mind, expand your horizons, and lose yourself in another world, but at present, it’s fair to say that reading is far from a universal habit among British adults – and in fact, 40% claim to have not picked up or listened to a single book in the last 12 months.

Ahead of World Book Day last week, YouGov decided to look into the reading habits of the British public and asked a total of 2121 adults a series of literary-related questions.

According to the survey, a quarter of Brits (23%) who responded say they have read or listened to between one and five books in the last year, with a further 10% admitting to reading or listening to between six and 10, and an extra 10% making their way through between 11 and 20 books.

Stack of books — Shocking new survey reveals that 40% of Brits haven’t read a single book in the last year / Credit: Freepik | Susan Q Yin (via Unsplash)

Books in a library — Shocking new survey reveals that 40% of Brits haven’t read a single book in the last year / Credit: Freepik | Susan Q Yin (via Unsplash)

There are a small number of so-called ‘mega-readers’, however, with 4% of respondents claiming they have read more than 50 books, which is roughly one or more books a week, on average.

As often tends to be the case with many survey results, the results do differ between gender, age, and social class.

Two-thirds of women (66%) say they have read or listened to a book in the last year, but just over half of men (53%) say they have.

Older Brits are also more likely to be readers too, with 65% of over 65s and 63% of 50-64 year olds having read at least one book or listened to one audiobook in the last year, compared to just 57% of 25-49 year olds, and 53% of 18-24 year olds.

Person reading a book — 4% claimed they’ve read more than 50 books in the last year / Credit: Debbie Tea (via Unsplash)

According to YouGov’s findings, there is also something of a class divide in reading too.

66% of survey respondents who live in middle class households have read or listened to a book in the last 12 months, compared to just 52% those living in working class households.

And how about frequency? According to the survey, 50% of Brits say they read or listen to books at least once a week, with 37% reading ‘most days’, and 20% reading every day, and women more likely than men to be daily readers at 27%.

Just 15% of Brits say they ‘never’ read or listen to books at all.

While a growing number of Brits may be using audiobooks, most 53% don’t consider ‘listening’ to be the equivalent of having read the same book, and 82% still prefer physical copies of books.

Featured Image – Melanie Deziel (via Unsplash)