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

February 2026 Data Release

Countries reporting
62
Highest
95.3%
Republic of Korea
Lowest
0.1%
El Salvador
Median
60.2%
Years covered
23
2002–2024
Data points
774

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, both sexes (%) is currently reported for 62 countries. The highest value is 95.3% in Republic of Korea; the lowest is 0.1% in El Salvador.

The median across all reporting countries is 60.2%, and the mean is 57.0%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 953.

Over the past decade 45 countries rose and 16 fell. The largest increase was in Paraguay (up 2,818.2%), 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 Republic of Korea 95.3% 2023 up 0.3% rising
2 Iceland 94.8% 2014 up 64.3% rising
3 Hong Kong, China 92.4% 2022 up 10.3% rising
4 Malta 89.6% 2023 up 28.7% rising
5 Bosnia and Herzegovina 89.3% 2023 up 1,388.3% rising
5 Belarus 89.3% 2023 up 28.3% rising
7 Norway 88.0% 2021 down 0.8% rising
8 Finland 87.8% 2016 up 57.3% rising
9 Denmark 83.9% 2024 up 14.9% rising
10 Lithuania 83.5% 2023 down 1.9% rising
11 Czechia 83.0% 2023 up 5.7% rising
12 Serbia 82.4% 2023 up 71.7% rising
13 Cyprus 81.9% 2023 up 30.8% rising
14 Portugal 79.9% 2023 up 8.9% rising
15 Montenegro 79.8% 2022 up 18.0% rising
16 Hungary 78.8% 2016 up 96.0% rising
17 Greece 76.9% 2016 up 198.1% volatile
18 Japan 76.3% 2022 up 2,625.0% volatile
19 Austria 73.1% 2022 up 30.8% rising
20 Spain 72.7% 2023 up 12.0% rising
21 Netherlands 67.9% 2016 up 35.8% rising
22 North Macedonia 67.7% 2017 up 298.2% rising
23 Sweden 66.9% 2024 down 16.7% rising
24 Poland 66.7% 2023 up 63.5% rising
25 Slovakia 65.5% 2024 up 8.6% rising
26 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 65.0% 2016 up 179.0% rising
27 Macau, China 63.4% 2021 up 170.9% rising
28 Latvia 63.1% 2023 down 21.3% rising
29 Belgium 62.6% 2023 up 26.0% rising
30 Luxembourg 62.2% 2024 down 22.1% rising
31 Bahrain 61.0% 2023 up 96.8% rising
32 Brazil 59.5% 2023 up 87.1% rising
33 Slovenia 59.1% 2023 down 28.6% rising
34 Croatia 58.7% 2023 down 29.7% rising
35 Romania 57.7% 2023 up 45.3% rising
36 Türkiye 57.5% 2024 up 16.4% rising
37 Italy 57.4% 2023 up 7.5% rising
38 Switzerland 56.8% 2023 down 28.6% flat
39 Bulgaria 56.3% 2023 up 12.8% rising
39 France 56.3% 2023 up 11.7% rising
41 Germany 55.6% 2024 down 13.5% rising
42 Georgia 54.7% 2023 down 4.0% rising
43 Singapore 50.8% 2023 up 51.2% rising
44 Morocco 48.4% 2021 down 2.4% rising
45 Mexico 44.9% 2023 up 10.0% volatile
46 Mauritius 43.5% 2020 up 96.8% volatile
47 Ireland 40.1% 2015 up 771.7% volatile
48 Thailand 39.6% 2020 up 280.8% rising
49 Qatar 34.6% 2020 up 7.8% falling
50 Paraguay 32.1% 2023 up 2,818.2% volatile
51 Jamaica 29.4% 2021 up 398.3% rising
52 Russian Federation 27.3% 2023 up 38.6% falling
53 Estonia 22.5% 2017 down 66.3% rising
54 Colombia 18.5% 2023 up 32.1% flat
55 Ukraine 17.8% 2021 down 10.1% volatile
56 United Arab Emirates 15.9% 2023 down 40.0% falling
57 Kazakhstan 15.5% 2023 up 17.4% flat
58 Egypt 11.3% 2022 up 527.8% volatile
59 Ecuador 8.5% 2024 up 2,733.3% volatile
60 Azerbaijan 8.0% 2023 down 2.4% rising
61 Albania 6.4% 2023 falling
62 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-5/

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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, both sexes (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
Coverage
62 places, 774 data points, 2002–2024
Last refreshed

February 2026 Data Release