Young people today come into contact with reading books later than in the past. This is the conclusion of the study "Bock auf Buch! - How young people find and buy books today", which was presented on Thursday during the Leipzig Book Fair. The study was commissioned by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association and the Working Group of Youth Book Publishers at Consumer Panel Services GfK.
According to the study, reading aloud by adults, for example, has helped to inspire 77% of today's 20 to 29-year-old readers to read books. Among 10 to 15-year-old readers, the figure is only 67 percent.
Printed books remain the most popular format. 97 percent of 10 to 19-year-olds and 96 percent of 20 to 29-year-olds read books in this form. E-books and audiobooks are also used, with clearer differences between the age groups.
Expenditure on the purchase of children's and young adult books increased by 7.4 percent to 672 million euros between 2019 and 2023. In the case of self-purchases and books given as gifts to young people, spending for the target group of up to 19-year-olds increased by around 32 percent during this period.
Peter Kraus vom Cleff, Managing Director of the Börsenverein, spoke in a press release of the need for action. "The fact that young people are finding their way to reading books later today shows that we need strong reading promotion programs both outside the home and for the home." In addition, a political strategy is necessary "to counteract the progressive deterioration of the educational situation in Germany".
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