Half of population in Latvia is reading books

Results of a population survey conducted by the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia show that a half (50.3%) of the population of Latvia aged 16 and over were reading books (including e-books or audio books) in 2022. The greatest proportion of people reading books was recorded among women, young people aged 16–24, and people having higher education.

In 2022, 61.6% of women and just 36.3% of men had read any books during the last 12 months. Among men, 38.1% did not read because of the lack of interest and 19.5% due to the lack of time (16.4% and 13.5% among women, respectively). Only 0.2% of men and 0.6% of women admitted that do not read books because cannot afford it.