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UK publishers sold an estimated 787 million books in 2006, with an invoiced value of £2.81 billion. This was marginally lower than in 2005 by volume, but 2 percent higher by value.
The total value of UK book exports increased by 0.4 percent to £1.43 billion in 2006. The US remained the single largest destination for UK book exports, with sales of £215.6 million (up 2.1 percent on 2005), followed by Ireland (£133.3 million), Germany (£92.2 million), Australia (£80.0 million) and the Netherlands (£79.5 million).
The value of the UK book market in 2006, at end purchaser prices, is estimated to have been £3.3 billion. This was 3 percent higher than in 2005.
consumers aged 12-74 spent an estimated £2.3 billion on books in 2006 (up 2% on 2005).
Nielsen Bookdata recorded the total number of titles being published in the UK as 115,522 in 2006, up 4.1% on 2005. The number of English-language titles recorded as being published somewhere in the world in 2006 was 258,347.
The following statistics are taken from the Literary Trust website.
A poll commissioned by Teletext in 2007 questioned 4,000 adults about their reading habits. The survey found a third had not bought a new book in the previous 12 months, while 34 percent said they did not read books at all.
The top reasons given for not reading were as follows:
too tired (48 percent)
watch TV instead (46 percent)
play computer games (26 percent)
work late (21 percent)
In June 2002, the ONS Omnibus survey included a module on reading habits commissioned by the National Reading Campaign. It found that nearly half of adults questioned had read five books or more in the previous 12 months, with one in five claiming to have read 20 books or more.
A quarter of adults had not read a book at all during this period, including almost half of young males aged between 16 and 24.
The good news is that 96 percent said they had read at least something in the last week, whether this was books, magazines, newspapers or text messages. Reading material varied according to age with 70 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds choosing magazines, compared to 59 percent of 55 to 64-year-olds. 33 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds had read fiction, compared to 43 percent of 55 to 64-year-olds.
An online survey of 1432 workers, by the TUC for Quick Reads and World Book Day 2006, found that 23 percent of British workplaces had borrowing shelves or book clubs. However, nine out of ten employees said that they would consider using such facilities should they be available.
Even without such facilities, 84 percent of workers share books with their colleagues. 55 percent of those questioned read or listened to audio books on their way to work. Fiction titles were the most popular at 32 percent, followed by newspapers at 22 percent. 55 percent read during their lunch hour. 62 percent said that lack of time stopped them from reading more.
A survey of 4,000 people for the BBC Raw Literarcy Campaign in 2006 found that reading was considered an important activity for 79 percent of those questioned. It was considered more popular than sex (69 percent), TV (67 percent) or computer games (15 percent). However, although 82 percent of the population said that they enjoyed reading, a significant proportion (17 percent), say that they did not.
A survey of 1,000 people for Bedtime Reading Week 2002 showed that the most popular place to read is in bed (65 percent), followed by the bath at 25 percent. 10 percent read in the toilet (mostly men), while almost half of us like to read on holiday and a third read on their way to and from work. A third of those interviewed said they wished they had more time to read.
A survey by Book Marketing for World Book Day 2001 found that the average British reader reads for between 4 and 6 hours a week. In Scotland the average is 5.8 hours. 54 percent said they read for relaxation or to relieve stress.
Spending on books in Britain increased by more than £500 million in the years between 1993 and 1999, and is continuing to grow faster than anywhere else in Europe.
Britons spent more than £2.6 billion a year on books in 1999; 23 percent going on paperbacks and the rest on hardbacks.
The top ten paperbacks in the UK were more expensive than their equivalents in the US and Germany. Average prices November 1999 were as follows:
