Results of survey on participation of residents in cultural activities

The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of Survey on Participation of Residents in Cultural Activities for the second quarter of 2015. 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, visiting a museum or World Heritage site, going to a library, and attending a performance or art exhibition. In the second quarter of 2015, a total of 290,100 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 52.8%, down by 0.8 percentage points year-on-year. Local residents participating in cultural activities totalled 249,800, with a participation rate of 58.0%, up by 1.3 percentage points year-on-year. Analysed by type of cultural activity, there were 157,800 local residents going to the cinema, up by 9.1% year-on-year. The activity participation rate increased by 2.6 percentage points to 36.7%, with that for local residents aged 16-24 rising by 7.2 percentage points to 71.7%. Local residents going to libraries increased by 2.0% year-on-year to 110,900; the activity participation rate was 25.8%, up slightly by 0.2 percentage points. Analysed by age group, the participation rate for those aged 35-44 rose notably by 3.8 percentage points to 32.4%. Local residents visiting museums or World Heritage sites decreased by 2.1% year-on-year to 95,600. The average visit per participant was 2.8, down slightly from 3.0 in the second quarter of 2014. There were 91,200 local residents attending performances, down by 12.8% year-on-year. The average attendance per participant was 2.3, down slightly from 2.4 in the second quarter of 2014. Music/dance performances were the more popular performances among local residents, with 67,400 participants (73.9%), while theatre performances had 46,700 participants (51.2%), down by 14.6% and 9.0% respectively year-on-year. There were 36,400 local residents attending art exhibitions, down by 6.2% year-on-year; 92.2% of them also participated in other types of cultural activities, and 78.7% took part in three or more types of activities.