Indonesian Participation in Reading Facilities Still Low in 2024

The Socio-cultural Statistics Report 2024 from the Central Bureau of StatisticsReport from Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) reveals that while 90.17% of Indonesians aged five and above have read something, visits to reading facilities in the last three months of 2024 remain low.

"The percentage of the population aged five and above who visited libraries in 2024 was 11.91%," stated the BPS in its report.

According to the BPS, in addition to libraries, community information needs can also be accessed through Community Reading Parks (Taman Bacaan Masyarakat or TBM). However, participation in visits to TBMs is also low, not exceeding 1%.

"In 2024, the percentage of the population aged five and above who utilized TBMs was only 0.98%," said the BPS.

Most Read Types of Reading Material

The BPS also reported the types of reading material most frequently read by Indonesians in 2024. As a result, holy books were the most widely read.

Besides holy books, knowledge books and magazines were also popular. This is a complete list of the most read types of reading material by Indonesians in 2024:

• Holy books: 75.80%
• Knowledge books: 23.20%
• School textbooks: 20.41%
• Newspapers: 18.50%
• Storybooks: 12.51%
• Magazines/tabloids: 4.80%
• Others: 16.18%.