Although the world of books evokes certain images--the right book, a cozy armchair, a cup of tea, the perfect reading lamp, walls of bookshelves, a sleeping cat on your lap, maybe even a fireplace--it's a numbers game as well as a letters game. And while the reader in me loves idyllic bookish imagery, the bookseller in me still loves stats.
BookNet Canada has just released The Canadian Book Consumer Study 2024, which shares information gleaned from its consumer surveying, including book buying and book borrowing behaviors, preferred formats, how consumers become aware of the books they buy, and where they are likely to purchase them.
Last year, BookNet Canada conducted surveys in March, June, September, and December among 4,212 adult, English-speaking Canadians, of whom 2,045 were book buyers.
Among Canadians surveyed for this study, 49% bought new books and 27%
borrowed books from the library in 2024, in a given month. They purchased an average of 3.6 new books a month--two print books, one e-book, and 0.5 audiobooks.
Compared to all Canadians, book buyers and borrowers were more likely to:
- live in a city or urban area--51% of buyers and 50% of borrowers vs. 48% of all Canadians
- have a college or university degree--51% of buyers and 52% of borrowers
vs. 49% of all Canadians - have a graduate or professional degree--26% of buyers and 26% of
borrowers vs. 19% of all Canadians - be employed full time--49% of buyers and 41% of borrowers vs. 35% of all Canadians
Long before the threat of tariffs became headline news, respondents to the Canadian Book Consumer Study were conscious of the impact of rising book prices. In 2024, 53% of Canadians buying new books spent between C$1 (about US$.73) and C$49 (about US$35.55) on books in a given month, down from 59% of new book buyers in 2023. Nearly half of Canadians buying new books rated their value for money as excellent (47%), while 38% rated it as good, 13% as fair, and 2% as poor.
The study found that most Canadian book buyers visited a bookstore between one and four times in a given month in 2024 (58% of online book buyers and 62% of in-person book buyers), with 79% exploring a bookstore online and 71% in-person.
The primary reasons book buyers visited bookstores in-person were to browse books to pass time (30%), to browse (for) book deals/sales (25%), to browse displays and shelves for books to buy (25%), to browse new releases (25%), and to buy a gift (17%).
In 2024, 54% of all book purchases made by the survey respondents were online, compared to 46% in-person. As has been the case in previous years, consumers who bought books online first found them by searching for a particular title (39%), while those who bought books in-person first saw them on a main shelf (53%).
The top reasons Canadian book buyers purchased their books at a specific location in 2024 were that it was a convenient place to shop (39%), the book(s) were in stock/available immediately (29%), there was a good price/offer/promo (28%), and a good selection of books were on offer (24%)
While 39% of Canadian book buyers had planned to buy a particular book at a specific time, 25% had planned to buy a particular book, but not necessarily at that specific time, 18% were not planning to buy a book at that specific time and made an impulse purchase, and 16% were planning to buy a book at that specific time, but not a particular book.
Similar to past years, the majority of purchases were of print books (49% paperback, 26% hardcover), followed by e-books (15%) and audiobooks 6%). When asked about their format preferences, most respondents chose print books (70%) over e-books (17%) or audiobooks (8%).
In 2024, Canadian book buyers who bought books instead of borrowing them did so because they wanted to be able to reread it whenever they want, as much as they want (14%), wanted it right away (14%), and wanted to own it for their display, collection, or archive (11%).
They became aware of the books they purchased by reading other books by the same author/illustrator (20%), from a recommendation or review (19%), or by browsing or searching online or in-person (19%).
The top reasons buyers decided to purchase a book in 2024 were an interest in the book's subject (29%); the description of the book (20%); they liked the series (16%); or a recommendation or review (16%).
Most of the respondents bought books for themselves (86%), for someone else either as a gift (12%) or "just because" (2%), with 60% of those who bought books for others getting them for children and 40% for other adults.
Other ways they acquired books in 2024:
- 32% borrowed books from the public library
- 26% bought books secondhand
- 27% received books as a gift
- 24% received books for free (including free downloads)
- 18% borrowed books from someone they know
Okay, now that you've gotten your morning dose of nutritional stats, go find that cozy chair and read.