Madrid, Spain, April 24, 2013 - The gap is closing between Spain (where 63% of people read) and Europe as a whole, where the average stands at 70%

Today is World Book Day, a day on which culture and books take on special significance, 24 hours in which the spotlight is cast on Spaniards’ interest in culture and reading, according to a report published by the Federation of Spanish Publishers’ Guilds (FGEE). According to the results of a recent survey, 92% of the Spanish population reads some kind of material in any kind of format at least once every three months. Of these, 89% read frequently, at least once a week. The gap between readers and frequent readers is also getting smaller all the time.

For 59% of Spaniards, reading a book is their preferred free time activity, and the report reveals that the number of books read per person is increasing continuously, now standing at 11 books per year. In addition, the publishers’ guild says that five out of every 10 Spaniards can read in more than one language, mainly English (24% of the population).

Technology is deeply embedded in the way that Spaniards read. Six out of every 10 people surveyed read in digital format (eBooks), a percentage that has increased by 5.3% in comparison with 2011

According to data released by the FGEE study, some 55.4% of Spaniards bought books in 2012. These reading figures underscore the importance of the publishing market in Spain. This industry posts annual revenue of almost €3 billion, or 0.7% of the country’s GDP, providing direct and indirect employment to over 30,000 people. The 840 publishing firms within the FGEE represent around 95% of the sector, and in 2011 published over 284 million books and published more than 83,000 titles, with an average print run of 3,441 copies.

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