Educated women in south of Finland most avid book readers in Finland
Study shows Internet does not reduce reading
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A study shows that the most eager consumers of books in Finland are truly avid buyers of reading matter. According to the Suomi Lukee, or “Finland Reads” study, by the Booksellers’ Association of Finland and the Finnish Book Publishers’ Association, the heaviest book consumers - comprising about one fifth of the adult population - bought more than half of the books acquired by individuals either at bookshops or over the Internet.
Those in the 15-79 age group who bought no books at all last year comprised a slightly larger proportion of the population.
A typical person who buys more than ten books in a year is a woman with a family, between 40 and 49 years old, who lives in the Helsinki region, and has an academic degree.
Those who buy no books at all are most typically young men in Northern Finland who live alone.
In 2008 individual buyers bought a total of 22 million books in Finland, which constitutes an increase of ten per cent over the previous similar study five years ago.
At the same time, the amount of money spent on buying books has grown only by nine per cent. This is attributable to factors such as the number of shops specialised in selling publishers’ old stock.
Even if educational textbooks are not counted, 77 per cent of Finnish adults buy at least one book a year. Books remain popular gift items, but more and more people are buying books for themselves.
Finnish Book Publishers’ Association director Sakari Laiho says that fiction is the most popular genre. The study shows that both original Finnish works and translations are equally interesting.
In about half of cases, the choice of what to buy is not made until the buyer is either at a bookstore, or on a web page.
It is difficult to assess the number of books that are ordered directly from abroad, but at least it is not seen as a dip in domestic sales figures.
“Sales outlets are on the increase”, says Katariina Jaakkola, managing director of the Booksellers’ Association; more books are being sold at grocery stores, filling stations, and kiosks, where selections are limited, but where sales numbers can nevertheless be considerable.
The Internet is getting absolution from the study: it has not seemed to cut back on reading books in any way.
The economic slump does not seem to have had an effect on the popularity of books.
“There have been recessions before, and they have hardly had any effect on publishing decisions", charges Sakari Laiho.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 15.1.2009 - TODAY |
 Educated women in south of Finland most avid book readers in Finland |
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