The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released results of Survey on Participation of Residents in Cultural Activities for the second quarter of 2020. 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 2020, number of individuals participating in cultural activities fell substantially by 24.7% year-on-year to 229,100, owing to the cancellation or postponement of some performances, exhibitions and screenings amid the pandemic of novel coronavirus pneumonia as well as a lower willingness of residents to go out. The cultural activity participation rate (the percentage of participants in cultural activities among the population aged 16 and above) was 39.4%, down by 15.0 percentage points year-on-year. There were 196,900 local residents participating in cultural activities, and the participation rate dropped by 13.7 percentage points to 43.3%.
Analysed by type of cultural activity, the most popular activity among local residents was going to libraries, with 108,200 participants, despite a decrease of 21.4% year-on-year; the activity participation rate dropped by 6.7 percentage points to 23.8%. Student participation rate fell by 15.3 percentage points to 66.1%, which was about 3.3 times as high as the rate for non-students (20.1%). The difference between the two rates narrowed from 55.1 percentage points in the second quarter of 2019 to 46.0 percentage points.
Number of local residents going to the cinema decreased markedly by 42.4% year-on-year to 96,000 in the wake of the pandemic, and the activity participation rate reduced by 15.8 percentage points to 21.1%; yet, number of those who had watched locally produced films and videos increased by 20.0% to 38,700. Meanwhile, number of local residents who had watched movies on the Internet or from discs fell by 8.5% year-on-year to 280,300.
Local residents visiting museums or World Heritage sites decreased by 11.0% year-on-year to 76,700, with the average number of visits edging down by 0.1 to 3.1. Among them, those visiting World Heritage sites increased by 9.9% to 64,000, while those going to museums dropped by 28.0% to 43,900. The main reasons for not participating were “No interest” (54.2% of total) and “No time” (42.3%).
There were 40,700 local residents attending performances, a significant decline of 47.9% year-on-year; on the other hand, the average attendance per participant increased slightly by 0.1 to 2.4. Music/dance performances saw higher number of participants, at 27,100; meanwhile, 22,900 local residents went to theatre performances.
Local residents attending art exhibitions totalled 23,900, a decrease of 29.7% year-on-year. The average visit per participant dropped by 0.4 to 2.0. Among these local residents, 90.2% also participated in other types of cultural activities, and those who took part in three or more types of activities accounted for 75.3% of the total.
