The two bar charts compare how many minutes per day New Zealanders in five age groups spend reading for pleasure and listening to music.
Overall, time spent reading rises steadily with age, whereas listening to music follows an uneven pattern, with the youngest and oldest groups spending the most time on it.
Looking at reading first, the 14-24 group spends the least time, at only about 20 minutes a day. This figure doubles to around 40 minutes among 25-32 year-olds, then increases gradually to roughly 45 minutes for the 33-42 group and 50 minutes for the 43-55 group. The 56-65+ group reads the most, at approximately 70 minutes.
In contrast, music listening is highest among the 14-24 and 56-65+ groups, which both average about 80 minutes daily. The figure falls to 70 minutes for 25-32 year-olds and reaches its lowest point of around 45 minutes among those aged 33-42, before recovering to about 60 minutes for the 43-55 group.
Notably, the 33-42 group spends roughly the same time on both activities, while the youngest group listens to music four times as long as it reads.