Bangladeshis Read Just 2.75 Books a Year on Average, Ranked 97th in Global Survey

Various international statistics show Bangladesh lagging behind in the reading habit. It trails even neighbouring India and Sri Lanka.

In 2024, CEO World Magazine surveyed reading habits in 102 countries around the world. In the survey, based on more than 6.5 million interviews, Bangladesh ranked 97th in reading books, while the United States ranked first. The statistics-based organisation World Population Review has published the CEO World survey data on its own website.

According to that data, a person in Bangladesh reads on average only 2.75 books a year. And they spend an average of 62 hours a year reading books.

In the same list, Bangladesh's closest neighbour India ranks second. A person there reads an average of 16 books a year and spends 352 hours reading. In Sri Lanka a person reads an average of 3.29 books a year. In Pakistan, however, the figure is even lower than in Bangladesh, at just 2.6 books a year.

In the United States, which leads in reading, a person reads an average of 17 books a year and spends an average of about 357 hours reading. In addition, a person reads an average of 15 books a year in the United Kingdom, 14 in France, 13 in Italy and 11 in Russia. Notably, apart from India, no other South Asian country is in the survey's top 20 list for reading.

A study on the reading habits of secondary-level students in Bangladesh has painted a similar picture. The study, titled 'Recreational Book Reading Among Secondary School Students in Bangladesh: Access, Trends and Issues', was published in January 2025.

The study surveyed a total of 691 students from three secondary schools and two dakhil madrasas in the country. Some 56 percent of the participants were girls. The students' favourite books include comics and humour books, short stories, horror stories and science fiction.

But the study found that although 87 percent of participating students considered reading books in their leisure time important, in reality only 38 percent read books beyond their textbooks. The study was conducted by Professor Md Ahsan Habib of Dhaka University's Institute of Education and Research, Assistant Professor Shilpi Rani Saha and researcher Mohammad Rakibul Islam.

Dhaka University Institute of Education and Research Professor Mohammad Nure Alam Siddiqui believes differences in social and cultural practice lie behind countries such as India being ahead in reading. He said reading and literary practice in India are far more integrated with society's cultural activities; in various countries of Europe and America there is also a practice of preserving the reading culture, for example people there read books even in parks. But that culture has not developed in Bangladesh in the same way. In his words, without advancing the cultural stream, building a reading habit will not be easy.

Batighar founder Dipankar Das, on the other hand, believes a major reason for Bangladesh lagging behind is that a culture of reading outside institutional education long received no importance. He said the spread of institutional education in Bangladeshi society is relatively recent; many people's fathers never went to school. As a result, for a long time 'study' mainly meant reading school and college textbooks.

In Dipankar Das's view, readers can be created from three places: the family, educational institutions and libraries. But that environment has not yet developed sufficiently in Bangladesh. Recalling his experience of once working with Bishwo Shahitto Kendro, he said that when book-reading programmes were taken to educational institutions, many parents, and even teachers, questioned what need there was to waste time reading such books beyond textbooks.

According to the Department of Public Libraries under Bangladesh's Ministry of Cultural Affairs, there are currently a total of 71 government public libraries in the country. Beyond these, various libraries are also run under private and personal initiatives. However, in many libraries the tendency to study for job-exam preparation is more visible than reading literature or other books.

A 2021 study by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) identified problems in government public libraries including manpower shortages, infrastructure limitations and an insufficient supply of books according to readers' demand.

Professor Mohammad Nure Alam Siddiqui believes more initiatives are needed at state and local levels to build the reading habit. Drawing on his experience of work related to improving Gazipur City Corporation's education system, he said a proposal had been made there to build libraries in every neighbourhood within walking distance of people. He even proposes keeping space for reading books in places such as shopping malls, alongside play areas for children; this should be considered a social investment rather than merely a matter of business demand, he said.