The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of Survey on Participation of Residents in Cultural Activities for the second quarter of 2018. This Survey aims to collect information on participation of individuals aged 16 and above in cultural activities in the six months prior to the date of interview. Cultural activities include going to the cinema, going to a library, visiting a museum or World Heritage site, and attending a performance or art exhibition.
In the second quarter of 2018, a total of 300,000 individuals participated in cultural activities; the cultural activity participation rate (percentage of individuals participating in cultural activities in the population aged 16 and above) was 54.3%, up by 0.3 percentage points year-on-year. Local residents participating in cultural activities totalled 253,900, with a participation rate of 56.7%, down by 2.3 percentage points.
Analysed by type of cultural activity, going to the cinema remained the most popular activity for local residents, with 165,500 participants, despite a decrease of 4.6% year-on-year; the activity participation rate fell by 2.2 percentage points to 37.0%. Among these local residents, 30,000 of them had watched locally produced films and videos, down by 17.2% year-on-year.
Local residents going to libraries continued to increase, up by 1.6% year-on-year to 131,600; the activity participation rate edged up by 0.1 percentage point to 29.4%. Students had a higher participation rate than non-students, at 76.8% and 25.1% respectively, with the difference between the two narrowing from 55.0 percentage points in the same quarter of 2017 to 51.7 percentage points.
Local residents visiting museums or World Heritage sites decreased by 12.8% year-on-year to 100,600. The average visit per participant inched down by 0.2 to 3.1. Among these local residents, 69,700 visited museums and 66,600 visited World Heritage sites, down by 10.2% and 24.2% respectively year-on-year.
There were 81,100 local residents attending performances, up by 2.1% year-on-year. The average attendance per participant decreased by 0.5 to 2.1. Music/dance performances remained more popular among local residents, with 60,200 participants, up by 4.7% year-on-year. Meanwhile, theatre performances had 40,300 participants, down by 18.7%.
There were 36,000 local residents attending art exhibitions, up by 3.2% year-on-year. The average visit per participant dropped by 0.3 to 2.0. Among these local residents, 95.3% of them participated in other types of cultural activities, and the proportion of those who took part in three or more types of activities accounted for 80.8%.