1. India. The NOP World Culture Score Index puts India as the nation that enjoys reading the most when considering the amount of time spent doing so among the 30 major nations surveyed. India tops our list, with its residents reading an average of 10 hours and 42 minutes weekly.
The country that reads the most books is India! They led every country on the map with an average of 10 hours and 42 minutes.
Chandra Mohan Jain (better known as Acharya Rajneesh or simply OSHO), a Indian spiritual leader active in 1970's and 80's, claimed to have read over 150,000 books. By modest estimates, if we assume he read continuously for 48 years (he lived for 58), it comes out to be 3,000 books a year.
At the top of the list for time spent reading per day is Estonia. The average 20 to 74 year old Estonian spends around 13 minutes reading every day. Also hitting figures over 10 minutes were Finland, Poland and Hungary.
The Bible. Easily the most read book in the world is the Bible for obvious reasons. It is estimated to have sold over 40 million copies in the last 60 years. You can even find it at most hotels.
The generation that reads the most is the millennials (26-40). Around 80 % have read a book in the past 12 months, more than any other generation according to data from Best By The Numbers. Coming in second place is baby boomers (56-75) with around 70 % having read a book in the past 12 months.
The United States ranks 17 in reading, (range of ranks: 14 to 20) and 20 in science (range of ranks: 17 to 25). There has been no significant change in these performances over time.
According to a study by the Australian National University and the University of Nevada in the US, Estonians lead the world in the average number of books people own.
It's the second year in a row that Seattle has topped the list, but California reigned supreme in bookish states with three most well-read cities on the 20-city list.
In terms of countries, the United States control over 24.7% of all global book sales. The USA is followed by China, which accounts for 19.4% of all sales, and Germany with 9.2%. As of 2023, the top 5 biggest book markets control 66.71% of all global book sales.
The survey found that the Silent Generation read the most books (an average of 25 per year) and Generation Z read the least (an average of eight).
Women read more than men in all categories except for history and biography. When it comes to fiction, the gender gap is at its widest. Men account for only 20 percent of the fiction market, according to surveys conducted in the U.S., Canada and Britain.
In 2021, the average American read 12.6 books over the course of the year, down from the average of 15.6 books per year back in 2016.
The Holy Bible is the most read book in the world. In the past 50 years, the Bible has sold over 3.9 billion copies. It is the most recognizable and famous book that has ever been published. The Bible is a collective book with many different preachings based on God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Diamond Sūtra. A Buddhist holy text, the Diamond Sūtra is considered to be the oldest surviving dated printed book in the world. Found in a walled up cave in China along with other printed materials, the book is made up of Chinese characters printed on a scroll of grey printed paper, wrapped along a wooden pole.
China and the US make nearly half the world's books.
Which State Has the Most Books Banned? Without a doubt, Texas is the state that has banned the most books. In total, Texas has banned more than 800 books in 22 school districts.
A recent survey of 2,000 U.S. respondents reveals just 15 percent have actually started writing a book and a mere six percent have gotten halfway through. In contrast, 24 percent have successfully completed a poem, three times more than those who've actually authored a completed novel (8%).