WHAT IS THE MOST POPULAR ACTIVITY IN THE UK?

The answer may surprise you…

ATTENDING FOOTBALL MATCHES?

ATTENDING FOOTBALL MATCHES?

In 2013-14, there were 13.9 million visits to Premier League games. That’s a lot – especially when you add in the other three leagues and the conference, plus the Scottish Premier and Division 1, when it rises to nearly 35 million. But it’s not the most popular thing we do.

Going to A&E?

Going to A&E?

We do injure ourselves quite a lot in the UK – in 2013-14 we went to the A&E Departments of our hospitals 18.5 million times. That’s still not number 1 though.

GOING TO THE THEATRE?

GOING TO THE THEATRE?

In 2013 we visited the theatre a whopping 22 million times. But that’s still 250 million visits less than our winner.

WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE VISITING THE UK ITSELF?

WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE VISITING THE UK ITSELF?

There were 32.8 million visits to the UK from overseas in 2013. Not bad at all!

GOING TO CHURCH?

GOING TO CHURCH?

The Church of England got 52 million visits in 2013. Close but no cigar.

GOING TO THE CINEMA?

GOING TO THE CINEMA?

We LOVE to visit the cinema in the UK, and did so 165.5 million times in 2013. Do we finally have a winner?

GOING TO THE CINEMA?

We LOVE to visit the cinema in the UK, and did so 165.5 million times in 2013. Do we finally have a winner? This is NEARLY the most popular activity we have – in fact we visited the cinema only 116.5 million fewer times than we…

VISIT THE LIBRARY!

We visited Public Libraries in the UK an eye-wateringly huge 282 million times in 2013-14. 282,000,000 times!

VISIT THE LIBRARY!

That’s more than 772,000 visits per day.

VISITING THE LIBRARY

That’s more than twice as many visits to public libraries in a week (5.4 million) than a theme park like Alton Towers gets in a year

VISITING THE LIBRARY That’s a whole football stadium’s worth of people (32,191) visiting public libraries every single HOUR of the year

So next time someone says libraries are no longer relevant, consider

those statistics for a minute.

So next time someone says libraries are no longer relevant, consider

those statistics for a minute.

(AND DURING THAT MINUTE, 536 PEOPLE WILL VISIT A PUBLIC LIBRARY IN THE UK.)

THE DATA 230 million library visits in England (282 million in UK): http://www.cipfa.org/about-cipfa/press-office/archived-press-releases/2014-press-releases/cipfa-library-survey Cinemas: 165.5 million admissions: http://www.cinemauk.org.uk/facts-and-figures/admissions/uk-cinema-admissions-2013-by-region/ Church of England: 52 million visits: https://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/facts-stats/research-statistics/parish-attendance-affiliation.aspx The UK itself: 32.8 million visits from overseas in 2013: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ott/travel-trends/2013/rpt-travel-trends--2013.html Theatre: 22 million attendees in 2013: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/11001177/Almost-twice-as-many-people-visit-the-theatre-than-attend-Premier-League-games.html Hospital A&E Departments: 18.5 million visits http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB16728 Premier League Football: 13.9 million total attendance http://www.espnfc.com/barclays-premier-league/23/statistics/performance?season=2013

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