4 out of 10 People Read Literature Books... Last Year's Average Reading Volume Was 2.3 Books

Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

According to the '2021 Literary Status' report jointly released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, the national literary reading rate last year was 43%, with an average literary reading volume of 2.3 books. This means that one out of every ten citizens read at least one literary book per year, with an average of 2.3 books read.

This survey was conducted in accordance with Article 6 of the 'Literature Promotion Act' to understand the creative environment of literary artists, the status of literary museums and literary organizations, and the public's literary enjoyment, and to use this as basic data for literature promotion policies. The survey was conducted online from September 28 to November 16, targeting 2,026 literary artists, 2,000 general citizens aged 15 and over, 106 literary museums nationwide, and 202 literary organizations nationwide.

34% have experience purchasing literary books, with an average purchase volume of 1.3 books

Although the survey was conducted this year, the annual statistics are based on last year. According to the results, 43% of the population had experience reading literature, with an average literary reading volume of 2.3 books. The younger the age group and the higher the monthly average income, the higher the reading experience rate.

By medium, the literary reading experience rate was highest for 'paper books' at 40.9%, followed by 'e-books' at 10.9%, and 'audiobooks' at 5.2%. However, for e-books, teenagers and people in their 20s showed a rate more than 10 times higher than those aged 60 and above, indicating that the trend of diversification in literary reading media varies by age group. The top reasons for not reading literature were: 1) 'lack of free time' (35.7%), 2) 'literary books are not interesting' (30.6%), and 3) 'difficulty in choosing suitable literary books' (13.4%).

34% of citizens have experience purchasing literary books, with higher purchase rates among those with higher education levels. The average purchase volume was 1.3 books, and the response indicating that the amount of literary book purchases 'decreased' (29.9%) was about three times higher than those who said it 'increased' (10.3%) compared to the previous year.

Creation ranks as poetry, novels, essays... the biggest difficulty is 'economic factors'

The fields in which literary artists create are led by 'poetry' at 39.6%, followed by 'novels' at 24.2%, and essays at 12.6%. However, among those aged 40 and under, 'novels' ranked higher than 'poetry', showing differences by age group. Regarding publishing media, 'paper books' accounted for the highest proportion at 89.3%, but the use of 'e-books' and 'internet content' increased as age decreased, again showing a trend of change by age group.

The proportion of literary artists who reported having occupations other than being a writer was 58%, higher than the 42% who identified as full-time writers. Among full-time writers, 29% reported having economic activities outside of creative work. The primary reason for engaging in economic activities outside of creative work was 'economic difficulties' at 75.2%. Eighty-six percent of literary artists who participated in the survey reported earning less than 1 million KRW through literary activities.

43.3% positive, 11.4% negative on government policies... 'Support for creative activities' is the most important policy

Regarding the contribution of government literature promotion policies, 43.3% of literary artists responded that evaluations have improved compared to before, 45.3% said there was no change, and 11.4% said evaluations have declined, showing relatively positive assessments. The importance of government policies was rated highest for 'support for creative activities' at 72.4%, followed by 'establishment of a creative safety net' at 15.9%, and 'protection of rights' at 6.4%. However, the importance rating for 'support for creative activities' decreased with younger age groups, while the importance ratings for 'establishment of a creative safety net' and 'protection of rights' increased, indicating changes in policy perception by age group.

Only 10.8% of citizens have visited literary museums, with large disparities in capabilities among museums

Only 10.8% of respondents reported having visited a literary museum, while 89.8% had no such experience, nearly nine times higher. The reasons for not visiting literary museums were 'lack of time' (28%), 'not knowing if a literary museum exists' (20.15%), and 'distance and inconvenient transportation' (18.1%), in that order.

Meanwhile, significant capability differences were found depending on the founding entity of the literary museums. The average income of local governments and non-profit corporations was 25 million KRW and 22.5 million KRW respectively, whereas for individuals and organizations, it was 2 million KRW and 9.7 million KRW respectively. The average number of employees also showed a gap: 4.8 and 3.8 for local governments and non-profit corporations, respectively, compared to 1.7 and 2 for individuals and organizations.

A policy official from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated, "This detailed survey on the status of the literary world will be used as basic data for the establishment and implementation of future literature promotion policies." He added, "We plan to strengthen policies needed by literary artists, such as 'support for resident writers' and 'distribution of excellent literary books,' and to expand opportunities for the public to enjoy literature by establishing literary enjoyment infrastructure such as the 'National Korean Literature Museum.' In particular, we will strive to establish more effective literature promotion policies by reflecting the voices from the field, including literary museums and literary organizations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.