Interesting books statistic: USA vs UK?
I heard an interesting thing on the radio last night:
apparently at any one time, the UK has about 800,000 books in print and in circulation. This is 4 times the number the USA has in circulation.
Given the relative populations of the UK and the USA, this means that, per head of population, the UK has about 75 times the number of books in print that the USA does.
What, if anything, does this mean? Especially given that the Literacy rates of the two countries are roughly comparable (both 99%, or ranking 18th).
> "it means your to poor in the uk to buy computers"
Computer ownership levels in the UK are 65%, according to the government.
In the USA it is 72.5%.
Not a hugely significant difference...
PS - it's "you're", not "your".
What does *that* say about literacy?
> "in 2005 the United Kingdom had 206,000 and the United States had 172,000. Unless the UK only printed 4 copies per book (and the US even fewer), your statistic is way off."
The statistic I heard was for *this* year, so things may have changed. It was provided by the guy who founded the book-store Waterstones.
But you are right about the numbers not exactly matching-up.
> "how many titles are published does not directly indicate how many of those titles are accessible to the average person, much less how many are being read"
Good point.