Figure 1. ‘When thinking about reading regularly for pleasure (i.e., at least once a week), what statement is true for you, if any at all?’
Who considers themselves a regular reader in 2025? that they don't read regularly now and have never been a regular reader.5 Around a third of UK adults (33%) identify as 'lapsed' readers, meaning that they used to read regularly but no The data shows both an age and gender gap in reader identity. Young adults aged 16-24 are the least likely to consider themselves a 'regular reader', with 61% identifying as either likely than women to identify as non-readers, with 15% of male respondents identifying as relatively low, it has increased by 6% compared to 2024 (from 50% to 53%).9 Similarly, there 6 'Regular readers' defined as those who responded 'l regularly read for pleasure'; 'Lapsed readers' as 'l used to read aey pue'mou aunseald lof peani,uop l, se ,siapea-uon, pue :,srepemou peal laau jo Klanen lanq 'ainseald joj Kueinbal 8 N=1,939; N=2,051, respectively, throughout the report. 9 Data comparison to 2024 drawn from an online survey by Censuswide, with 2,003 UK nationally representative consumers 16+, between 2-4 April 2024. For more, please see The Reading Agency (2024)State ofthe Nations Adult