More than 90% of Turks not participating in any cultural activity: Survey

More than 90% of Turks are not participating in any cultural activity, mostly due to a lack of interest rate or financial means, according to a survey conducted by the Turkish Statistical Institute.

Duvar English

Within the last 12 months, 85.3% of Turks aged 15 and over have not gone to the cinema, 93.7% have not gone to live performances, 92.0% have not visited cultural sites and 94.9% have not participated in live sports events, according to a survey conducted by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

The results have shown that lack of interest or financial deprivation were the main reasons behind such low rates of participation in cultural events.

The purpose of the survey was to detect satisfaction levels of social issues and participation in social activities of all individuals aged 15 and over.

The survey assessed participants’ satisfaction with the financial situation of their households; personal relationships with known people such as family, neighbors, friends, and colleagues; and the amount of time spent on hobbies or activities.

Those who were not satisfied at all were given “0”, whereas fully satisfied people were given “100.” The society’s overall satisfaction was found by calculating the arithmetic mean of all individuals. Accordingly, the average satisfaction with regards to the financial situation was 46.9 (out of 100), with regards to personal relationships 65.2 (out of 100) and with regards to the amount of leisure time 47.4 (out of 100).

The data have also shown that in the last 12 months, 69.0% of individuals aged 15 and over did not read any book, while 31.0% of them read at least one book. The highest reading book rate was in the 15-24 age group with 50.9% in the last 12 months while the lowest rate with 14.1% was in the group of individuals 65 aged and over.