The 2021 edition of the Digital Barometer records a strong increase in the number of digital readers: 17% of respondents say they read books on digital screens. They were half as numerous in 2015 (8%).
Référence :
A similar proportion (19%) say they do not currently read but will likely do so in the future. This proportion is almost identical to that measured in 2015. In total, the proportion of readers or possible readers on digital screens increases from 28% to 36%.
In a context where reading is a leisure activity in decline in the population as a whole (In 2018, 62% of metropolitans aged 15 and over are readers, compared to 67% ten years earlier and 71% twenty years earlier), it is notable to note the reverse progression of digital uses related to reading.
CREDOC attributes this increase in digital reading to the travel restrictions that marked the year 2020: " The relationship to books and the press (...) was disrupted during the pandemic. During the first containment, for example, bookstores and libraries closed, feeding a desire that seems to have led, in the summer, to a rush to these institutions. Bookstores, by the way, have since been classified as "essential businesses".
If reading is usually a gendered practice (women are greater readers than men), when a digital medium is involved, the link is reversed and men become more often practitioners or future practitioners than women (38% vs 34%).
Age and education level are particularly correlated with reading digital books or intending to do so.
A majority of young adults (18-24 years old) are either already readers (27%) or will probably become readers in the future (27% as well), while among 60-year-olds, the proportion is only 11% and 15% respectively: only one person in four in this age group already reads or plans to read in the future on a digital medium.
Appetence for digital books progresses steadily with the level of education, generating significant differences, though not as strong as those that appear with age.
47% of university graduates are readers or future readers of digital books, while only 22% of non-graduates are seduced.
Référence :
These observations are in line with the conclusions of the Barometer on the use of printed, digital and audio booksThis survey was carried out by SNE (Syndicat national de l'édition), SOFIA (Société Française des Intérêts des Auteurs de l'écrit) and SGDL (Société des Gens de Lettres).
According to the 2021 edition of this Barometer, 26% of French people have already read a digital book and 19% have already listened to a physical or digital audio book.
"The year 2020 has "converted" many new readers: 26% of digital audiobook readers have been readers for less than a year (21% for physical audiobooks and 15% for digital books).
The smartphone is the most used medium for reading (42% of readers) or listening (52% of listeners) to digital books.
However, the e-reader is still widely used by readers of digital books.
Among the other equipment, the laptop computer, regardless of the medium, is experiencing the most significant growth in usage.
Digital borrowing in libraries, also on the rise, involves 29% of digital book readers and 34% of digital audio book listeners."
The number of readers of digital books has doubled in five years
The 2021 edition of the Digital Barometer records a strong increase in the number of digital readers: 17% of respondents say they read books on digital screens. They were half as numerous in 2015 (8%).
Référence :
A similar proportion (19%) say they do not currently read but will likely do so in the future. This proportion is almost identical to that measured in 2015. In total, the proportion of readers or possible readers on digital screens increases from 28% to 36%.
In a context where reading is a leisure activity in decline in the population as a whole (In 2018, 62% of metropolitans aged 15 and over are readers, compared to 67% ten years earlier and 71% twenty years earlier), it is notable to note the reverse progression of digital uses related to reading.
CREDOC attributes this increase in digital reading to the travel restrictions that marked the year 2020: " The relationship to books and the press (...) was disrupted during the pandemic. During the first containment, for example, bookstores and libraries closed, feeding a desire that seems to have led, in the summer, to a rush to these institutions. Bookstores, by the way, have since been classified as "essential businesses".
If reading is usually a gendered practice (women are greater readers than men), when a digital medium is involved, the link is reversed and men become more often practitioners or future practitioners than women (38% vs 34%).
Age and education level are particularly correlated with reading digital books or intending to do so.
A majority of young adults (18-24 years old) are either already readers (27%) or will probably become readers in the future (27% as well), while among 60-year-olds, the proportion is only 11% and 15% respectively: only one person in four in this age group already reads or plans to read in the future on a digital medium.
Appetence for digital books progresses steadily with the level of education, generating significant differences, though not as strong as those that appear with age.
47% of university graduates are readers or future readers of digital books, while only 22% of non-graduates are seduced.
Référence :
These observations are in line with the conclusions of the Barometer on the use of printed, digital and audio booksThis survey was carried out by SNE (Syndicat national de l'édition), SOFIA (Société Française des Intérêts des Auteurs de l'écrit) and SGDL (Société des Gens de Lettres).
According to the 2021 edition of this Barometer, 26% of French people have already read a digital book and 19% have already listened to a physical or digital audio book.
"The year 2020 has "converted" many new readers: 26% of digital audiobook readers have been readers for less than a year (21% for physical audiobooks and 15% for digital books).
The smartphone is the most used medium for reading (42% of readers) or listening (52% of listeners) to digital books.
However, the e-reader is still widely used by readers of digital books.
Among the other equipment, the laptop computer, regardless of the medium, is experiencing the most significant growth in usage.
Digital borrowing in libraries, also on the rise, involves 29% of digital book readers and 34% of digital audio book listeners."