VOL.69/2024.04

Changes in South Korea's reading demographics

The expansion of 'hybrid readers' and the digital age

2017.9.11

The popularity of paper books is fading while more people are reading books and text on e-books and other digital means. It is a common change that has been observed throughout the world and not just in South Korea. It is also a natural one that has come in hand with the paradigm changes as mediums of recording text have evolved. When looking at the history of mankind's communication evolution, elements like readability, preservation and economical efficiency have been key in record-keeping. Digital mediums are tools for reading that fulfill all of these.

According to South Korea's most extensive survey on reading by the Korean Publishing Research Institute and the culture ministry conducted every two years, we can see 90 percent of underage students read books. However, the annual reading rate for adults above the age of 19 has steadily fallen from 86.8 percent in 1994 to 65.3 percent to 2015. The rate lost an average 1 percentage point for every year from the mid-1990s. In comparison, the reading rate for e-books has been on the rise with the reading rate for adults standing at 10.2 percent in 2015, while for underage students, the rate measured at 27.2 percent. The survey showed the younger you were, the more e-books you read.

Meanwhile in the United States, 28 percent of readers are hybrid readers and readers who read only e-books account for 6 percent of the United States' readers, according to the Pew Research Center. This signals there are three times more e-book readers in the United States compared to South Korea. It also shows the number of hybrid readers has the potential to grow if the country's digital content publishing market expands, like e-books and audio books.

This goes for South Korean readers. According to a survey for e-book readers carried out in 205 by KPIPA, respondents were asked to forecast what their reading preferences would be like in five years. More than half of the respondents answered they would mostly be reading paper books, although they expected to be reading more e-books than the present. Of those who responded 54.7 percent said they would prefer paper books, while 16.4 percent said they would rather look at e-books. Even children under age 10 showed higher preference for paper books over e-books.

The real problem is not how people read or what they prefer to read. It is how to persuade non-readers, people who do not prefer to read any kind of content, to read. South Korea has been making diverse efforts to increase the number of readers as creating new readers is also the key to ensuring the survival of the country's publishing environment.

Written by Won-keun Baek (President of the Book & Society Research Institute)