U.S. consumers spent more on recreational reading during COVID-19 pandemic than before

U.S. consumers spent more on recreational reading during the COVID-19 pandemic than ever before. Consumer spending on recreational reading rose 22.9 percent in 2020 and another 1.8 percent in 2021, reaching $15.2 billion.

Spending on recreational reading increased the most during the COVID-19 pandemic in consumer units in which the reference person was ages 25–34. People in this age group spent 1.6 times as much on recreational reading in 2021 as in 2019. Young adults under age 25 increased their spending on recreational reading by 65.2 percent from 2019 to 2021. Among consumer units in which the reference person was age 75 and older, spending on recreational reading increased 23.3 percent in 2020 but then fell 29.1 percent in 2021.

These data are from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys. Recreational reading includes subscriptions for newspapers and magazines; books through book clubs; e-books and digital reading material; and the purchase of single-copy newspapers, magazines, newsletters, books, and encyclopedias and other reference books. Consumer units are similar to households and consist of the household members who use their income to make joint expenditure decisions. The reference person is the first member mentioned by the respondent when asked to "Start with the name of the person or one of the persons who owns or rents the home." To learn more about the data in this article, see our calendar year means tables.