Book-reading habits in Italy

In 2010, 46.8% of the population aged 6 and over said they had read at least one book (over 26,400,000 people) in their leisure time during the 12 months prior to the interview.
Compared to 2009 there was an increase in the proportion of book readers from 45.1% to 46.8%. Gender differences decreased slightly, while regional and social differences increased.

Women read more than men: the figure for female readers was in fact 53.1%, compared with 40.1% for male readers. Gender differences are found in all age groups and are extremely marked between the ages of 20 and 24, an age range in which the percentage for female readers was 64.8% while for male readers it was 41.3%.
The highest percentage of readers was found among the 11-17 age group (over 59%), peaking between the ages of 11 and 14 (65.4%). The lowest percentage was to be found among the 75-plus age group (22.9%).