Reading and GDP

See full-size image

There is strong evidence that the cognitive skills of the population are powerfully related to individual earnings, to the distribution of income, and to economic growth. (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2008, p. 607)¹

An extensive study of economic history found that as an unintended side effect of Luther’s exhortation that everyone be able to read the Gospel, Protestants acquired literacy skills that functioned as human capital in the economic sphere. The higher literacy in Protestant regions can account for the major part of their edge in economic progressiveness over Catholic regions across Prussian counties in the late nineteenth century. The findings of this study from nineteenth-century Prussia reveal that the Protestant Reformation had very long-lived economic consequences, spanning several centuries. Protestantism led to substantially higher literacy, which in turn led to economic progress. (Becker & Woessmann, 2009, p. 581)²

A country’s development depends on its economic growth, and countries that foster high levels of skills in their population will thrive in the long term. The gains in GDP related to skill improvements lead to substantial gains in GDP per capita. (Hanushek, 2017)³

Consistent with these analyses, we display the correlation between reading level and Gross Domestic Product, per capita, in each country. The determination of causality is a study that we propose to our readers.

See full-size image

Data sources

* Reading. The figure corresponds to the mean number of books read annually, per capita. The sources for each country are detailed here.

** GDP. Gross Domestic Product, per capita, in USD, projected 2021. Values can be found on the International Monetary Fund website.

Endnotes