The Big Bad Wolf Books sale by The National

Looks like Malaysians have been spending their hard earned monies on the right stuff: Books.

According to Polish e-commerce platform, Picodi, Malaysia is ranked sixth globally for being among the world’s top purchasers of books. Even more than Singapore!

The below statistics you’re about to read does not reflect the reading habit among Malaysians, rather, their exercise in purchasing power online when it comes to books on Picodi’s website and the websites of their affiliates.

Speaking of books, support these local indie publishers. There’s more here too. 

***Edited: These figures were derived after Picodi surveyed 7,800 people from 41 countries including Malaysia in March this year based on online transactions on their website as well as the websites of their affiliates. In short, these figures are FROM Picodi. So take them with a pinch of salt. Or pepper. Whichever that suits your taste buds.

Picodi discovered a whopping 76% of Malaysians being lovers of fiction, with thrillers being a staple. Crime fiction, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, and adventure are the other four top genres purchased. Even comics sell, according to the e-commerce platform.

More than 53% of Malaysians purchased books during a sales bargain with many being books related to hobbies and literature. Speaking of literature… Malaysians are not huge fans of classical literature and poetry, by the way.

What’s interesting about these stats are that majority of Malaysians (56%, to be exact), purchased books a few times in a year. 19% purchased one book or more in a month. 22% don’t give a shit about reading.

Interestingly, 78% of Malaysians are content with the books available in bookstores while 22% feel that local publishing houses should publish more titles. By the way, here’s an informative piece on how the Malaysian publishing industry works.

For those who’ve never heard of Picodi, it’s a Polish based online platform that provides discount and rebate codes for various shopping websites across the globe. The above infographics were provided by them. Thanks guys!

Now, if you’re a self-publisher (check out Nazri Noor who is pretty successful) or a bookstore owner, the above stats would certainly come in handy.

***Update: We were informed by some of our readers that Picodi is not the right source to look for when it comes to actual data on book sales. In fact, the exact percentages are much lower according to Statista. Thanks for the heads up guys and we are terribly sorry for not being clear in our piece! This is what happens when you juggle a full time job, parenthood and Eksentrika all at the same time. 

If you’re a lover of good books, here are some local indie publishers that you have to support. There’s more here! Do you agree with the findings above? Comment below or drop us your thoughts at [email protected]!