Brazil sees majority of population identify as non-readers

Non-readers have become the majority in Brazil for the first time, according to the ‘Retratos da Leitura no Brasil’ survey by Instituto Pró-Livro. In 2024, 53% of respondents identified as non-readers, compared to 47% in 2019 when readers were the majority.

In Brazil, women remain more frequent readers than men, with an estimated 50 million female readers versus 43 million male readers. The decline in reading is most notable across most age groups, with the exceptions of children and adolescents aged 11 to 13 and individuals over 70.

Global trends show a similar decline in leisure reading. A study by the University of Florida and University College London indicates that in the United States, the proportion of people reading for pleasure has shrunk by more than 40% over two decades. In the European Union, Eurostat data from 2024 shows that nearly half of the population did not read a single book during the year. Reading rates vary significantly across Europe, with high levels in Ireland, Finland, and Sweden, and lower levels in Italy, Cyprus, and Romania.