Proportion of youth and adults that read or downloaded newspapers, magazines or electronic books in digital format, female (%) by country

February 2026 Data Release

Countries reporting
64
Highest
94.0%
Norway
Lowest
0.1%
El Salvador
Median
59.5%
Years covered
23
2002–2024
Data points
802

What the numbers show

Proportion of youth and adults that read or downloaded newspapers, magazines or electronic books in digital format, female (%) is currently reported for 64 countries. The highest value is 94.0% in Norway; the lowest is 0.1% in El Salvador.

The median across all reporting countries is 59.5%, and the mean is 52.4%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 940.

Over the past decade 59 countries rose and 4 fell. The largest increase was in Paraguay (up 2,811.1%), and the largest decrease in El Salvador (down 87.5%).

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

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Norway 94.0% 2021 up 27.0% rising
2 Iceland 91.6% 2014 up 59.3% rising
3 Republic of Korea 91.0% 2023 up 40.9% rising
4 Denmark 86.1% 2024 up 25.9% rising
5 Lithuania 83.0% 2023 up 34.3% rising
6 Cyprus 81.7% 2023 up 80.8% volatile
7 Hong Kong, China 80.2% 2022 up 35.5% rising
8 Estonia 79.8% 2019 up 26.7% rising
9 Malta 79.0% 2023 up 68.1% rising
10 Czechia 76.3% 2023 up 25.1% volatile
11 Sweden 76.1% 2024 down 3.1% rising
12 Finland 74.6% 2016 up 65.0% rising
13 Montenegro 74.2% 2022 up 94.2% rising
14 Serbia 73.6% 2023 up 105.0% rising
15 Belarus 72.3% 2023 up 52.9% rising
16 Spain 72.2% 2023 up 60.4% rising
17 Latvia 71.3% 2023 up 12.6% rising
18 Luxembourg 69.9% 2024 down 9.6% rising
19 Poland 69.5% 2023 up 176.9% volatile
20 Switzerland 67.9% 2023 up 21.7% rising
21 Slovenia 67.5% 2023 up 24.8% rising
22 Malaysia 66.9% 2023 up 38.5% rising
23 Portugal 66.0% 2023 up 67.5% volatile
24 Hungary 65.1% 2017 up 143.8% rising
25 Bosnia and Herzegovina 64.3% 2023 up 41.6% rising
26 Netherlands 63.8% 2016 up 109.2% rising
27 Croatia 63.6% 2023 up 28.0% rising
28 Austria 62.6% 2022 up 55.3% rising
29 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 62.3% 2016 up 275.3% volatile
30 Bahrain 61.5% 2023 up 78.3% rising
31 Slovakia 60.0% 2024 up 16.1% rising
32 Germany 59.7% 2024 up 8.2% rising
33 Belgium 59.3% 2023 up 52.1% rising
34 Japan 59.1% 2022 up 1,806.5% volatile
35 Bulgaria 57.9% 2023 up 60.8% rising
36 Greece 55.3% 2016 up 412.0% volatile
37 Italy 54.0% 2023 up 52.5% rising
38 Romania 52.8% 2023 up 99.2% rising
39 Singapore 50.4% 2023 up 94.6% rising
40 Macau, China 48.1% 2021 up 136.9% rising
41 North Macedonia 47.9% 2017 up 672.6% rising
42 Brazil 46.6% 2023 up 119.8% rising
43 France 46.5% 2023 up 28.5% rising
44 Türkiye 45.6% 2024 up 68.3% volatile
45 Morocco 44.6% 2021 up 57.0% rising
46 Georgia 43.0% 2023 up 28.0% rising
47 Ireland 39.2% 2015 up 1,125.0% volatile
48 Qatar 38.0% 2020 up 25.4% falling
49 Mexico 30.7% 2023 up 35.2% volatile
50 Mauritius 26.4% 2020 up 222.0% rising
51 Paraguay 26.2% 2023 up 2,811.1% volatile
52 Thailand 24.5% 2020 up 329.8% rising
53 Jamaica 24.4% 2021 up 454.5% rising
54 Russian Federation 18.9% 2023 up 36.0% rising
55 United Arab Emirates 17.7% 2023 down 68.7% volatile
56 Ukraine 15.2% 2021 up 100.0% rising
57 Colombia 14.6% 2023 up 204.2% rising
58 Kazakhstan 11.0% 2023 up 2.8% rising
59 Iran, Islamic Republic of 9.1% 2021 up 127.5% rising
60 Egypt 6.7% 2022 up 857.1% volatile
61 Azerbaijan 5.2% 2023 up 79.3% rising
62 Ecuador 4.3% 2024 up 2,050.0% volatile
63 Albania 3.1% 2023 falling
64 El Salvador 0.1% 2020 down 87.5% 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-3/

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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, female (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
Coverage
64 places, 802 data points, 2002–2024
Last refreshed

February 2026 Data Release