Proportion of youth and adults that read or downloaded newspapers, magazines or electronic books in digital format, 15-24 years old, male (%) by country

February 2026 Data Release

Countries reporting
60
Highest
95.2%
Iceland
Lowest
0.1%
El Salvador
Median
61.5%
Years covered
23
2002–2024
Data points
753

What the numbers show

Proportion of youth and adults that read or downloaded newspapers, magazines or electronic books in digital format, 15-24 years old, male (%) is currently reported for 60 countries. The highest value is 95.2% in Iceland; the lowest is 0.1% in El Salvador.

The median across all reporting countries is 61.5%, and the mean is 56.9%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 952.

Over the past decade 42 countries rose and 16 fell. The largest increase was in Japan (up 2,842.3%), and the largest decrease in El Salvador (down 80.0%).

Proportion of youth and adults that read or downloaded newspapers: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Iceland 95.2% 2014 up 51.8% rising
1 Republic of Korea 95.2% 2023 down 0.2% rising
3 Hong Kong, China 91.9% 2022 up 10.1% rising
4 Bosnia and Herzegovina 89.7% 2023 up 1,238.8% rising
5 Belarus 89.4% 2023 up 28.8% rising
6 Malta 89.0% 2023 up 42.6% rising
7 Norway 87.0% 2021 down 3.2% rising
8 Finland 83.5% 2016 up 59.0% rising
9 Czechia 82.0% 2023 up 0.2% rising
10 Portugal 81.5% 2023 up 4.0% rising
11 Cyprus 80.7% 2023 up 34.9% rising
12 Greece 80.6% 2016 up 199.6% volatile
13 Denmark 80.5% 2024 up 7.2% rising
14 Hungary 79.6% 2016 up 104.1% rising
15 Lithuania 78.9% 2023 down 7.1% rising
16 Serbia 78.6% 2023 up 52.0% rising
17 Austria 76.8% 2022 up 27.8% rising
18 Japan 76.5% 2022 up 2,842.3% volatile
19 Montenegro 76.2% 2022 up 13.4% rising
20 Croatia 75.8% 2023 down 10.8% rising
21 Spain 75.0% 2023 up 8.2% rising
22 North Macedonia 72.4% 2017 up 267.5% rising
23 Netherlands 67.9% 2016 up 20.4% rising
24 Sweden 66.5% 2024 down 18.0% rising
25 Switzerland 64.8% 2023 down 23.9% falling
26 Poland 63.9% 2023 up 55.5% rising
27 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 63.7% 2016 up 119.7% rising
28 Slovenia 63.3% 2023 down 19.8% rising
29 Brazil 62.2% 2023 up 111.6% rising
30 Belgium 61.8% 2023 up 22.9% rising
31 Slovakia 61.3% 2024 up 13.9% rising
32 Luxembourg 60.7% 2024 down 24.5% rising
33 Macau, China 60.4% 2021 up 144.5% rising
34 Türkiye 60.1% 2024 up 0.8% rising
35 Romania 59.2% 2023 up 43.7% rising
36 Bahrain 59.0% 2023 up 218.9% rising
37 Latvia 58.2% 2023 down 28.0% rising
38 Bulgaria 57.0% 2023 up 13.3% rising
39 France 54.6% 2023 up 2.2% rising
40 Germany 54.5% 2024 down 14.6% rising
41 Italy 53.8% 2023 up 2.5% rising
42 Georgia 50.2% 2023 down 9.1% rising
43 Singapore 47.6% 2023 up 42.5% rising
44 Mexico 42.1% 2023 up 1.4% volatile
45 Ireland 40.1% 2015 up 526.6% volatile
46 Mauritius 39.7% 2020 up 82.9% rising
47 Thailand 36.9% 2020 up 350.0% rising
48 Paraguay 30.3% 2023 up 2,230.8% rising
49 Russian Federation 24.1% 2023 up 37.7% falling
50 Jamaica 23.6% 2021 up 391.7% volatile
51 Estonia 20.8% 2017 down 67.0% rising
52 Colombia 18.0% 2023 up 24.1% falling
53 Qatar 17.1% 2020 down 45.2% falling
54 Ukraine 15.3% 2021 down 26.1% volatile
55 Kazakhstan 14.2% 2023 up 13.6% falling
56 Egypt 11.1% 2022 up 455.0% volatile
57 Azerbaijan 7.8% 2023 down 1.3% rising
58 Albania 7.5% 2023 falling
59 Ecuador 0.2% 2012 falling
60 El Salvador 0.1% 2020 down 80.0% volatile

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Proportion of youth and adults that read or downloaded newspapers by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 07 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/proportion-of-youth-and-adults-that-read-or-downloaded-newspapers-magazines-or-electronic-11/

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About this data

Indicator
Proportion of youth and adults that read or downloaded newspapers, magazines or electronic books in digital format, 15-24 years old, male (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
Coverage
60 places, 753 data points, 2002–2024
Last refreshed

February 2026 Data Release