16.6 Million More U.S. Adults Are Reading Fiction

According to the National Endowment for the Arts, reading rates among adults rose nearly four percent since 2002–50 percent of all adults are reading fiction. This was the first time since the 25-year-old survey was conducted that reading rates have actually risen.

That increase brought 16.6 million new readers to fiction. Increases were seen among male and female readers. Hispanic American readers increased by 20 percent from the 2002 survey, and African American readers increased by 15 percent.

Here’s an excerpt from the release: “Young adults show the most rapid increases in literary reading. Since 2002, 18-24 year olds have seen the biggest increase (nine percent) in literary reading, and the most rapid rate of increase (21 percent). This jump reversed a 20 percent rate of decline in the 2002 survey, the steepest rate of decline since the NEA survey began.”

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