Digitisation alters cultural production and consumption

Ministry of Education and Culture
Publication date 31.1.2012 10.45
News item

Also in Finland more and more cultural material is produced and consumed in digitised form. In book production, the publishing and use of printed reference books have decreased because the Internet makes up-to-date information available almost instantly. Growing amounts of library and museum materials are also published digitally on the web.

In Finland numbers of library loans have been falling for several years now. Just over 96 million loans were taken out from public libraries in 2010, whereas in 2004 they still numbered nearly 110 million. Over the same time span, the number of library visits has also fallen from 67 million to barely over 52 million. Likewise, libraries' book collections have diminished.

The sales of physical sound and video recordings have been falling for quite some time now. The value of CD sales has halved from the peak figures of the early 2000s, whereas the sales of digital sound recordings have multiplied many times over in just a few of years.

In 2010, digital sound recordings already accounted for almost one-quarter of the sales of sound recordings in euros and their sales grew by nearly 90 per cent from the previous year. The sales and rentals of DVDs have also fallen: from 2007 to 2010, the value of the sales dropped to almost one-half and the value of the rentals to under one-half.

The proliferation of digital cameras and mobile camera phones has increased hobby photography in all age groups apart from those over the age of 65. According to Statistics Finland's Time Use Survey, 27 per cent of the survey respondents quoted photography as their hobby in 2009, while the respective share ten years earlier was 18 per cent.

The above information can be found in Statistics Finland's publication Cultural Statistics 2011. It is the eighth in the series of compilations of cultural statistics published by Statistics Finland.

It contains data on different fields of art, cultural heritage, cultural events, education and labour force in culture, cultural finances, and entrepreneurial activity in culture. Included is also a review of ethnic minorities, languages and religions in Finland, as well as international comparison data from other countries within the EU and outside it.

The publication is in Finnish but the table texts are also in English. In addition, the publication contains a summary in Swedish and English.

Source: Cultural Statistics 2011 Statistics Finland.

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