This survey shows that people prefer printed books – even in the digital age

Apr 29, 2021

Overall, people still prefer ink and paper when it comes to reading a book. Image: Unsplash/Haidan

Felix Richter

Data Journalist, Statista

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Media, Entertainment and Sport is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Book Club

Have you read?

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing to improve digital intelligence in children?

a chart showing the estimated share of the population that purchased an e-book VS a printed book in 2020

Studies show that printed books are still the most popular. Image: Statista

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

More on Book Club
See all

The Booker Prize 2023 has a winner. Here's a summary of the novel and a round-up of the runners-up

Ian Shine

November 27, 2023

4 must-read books for the summer, according to psychologist Adam Grant

Rebecca Geldard

June 2, 2023

2 novels shared the Pulitzer Prize this year – here’s why they’re so relevant for our times

Emma Charlton

May 31, 2023

The International Booker Prize 2023 has a winner. Here's a summary of the book - and all the others on the longlist

Ian Shine

May 30, 2023

1:16

Adam Grant Shares 5 Books to Motivate and Inspire You

1:21

These Two Novels Won This 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

This survey shows that people prefer printed books – even in the digital age

Felix Richter

Share:

Explore and monitor how Media, Entertainment and Sport is affecting economies, industries and global issues

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Book Club

Have you read?

Do e-books help children learn to read?

7 ‘Champions for Nature’ tell us their must-read books

From books to bikes: 4 unexpected gender gaps

Don't miss any update on this topic

Related topics:

Share:

The Agenda Weekly

More on Book Club
See all

Share:

.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;color:#2846F8;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{font-size:1.125rem;}}Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Book Club

Have you read?

Do e-books help children learn to read?

7 ‘Champions for Nature’ tell us their must-read books

From books to bikes: 4 unexpected gender gaps

Don't miss any update on this topic

Related topics:

Share:

The Agenda .chakra .wef-n7bacu{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-weight:400;}Weekly

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

The Agenda Weekly