The Publishers Association released the results of a survey, commissioned by Kantar, into the reading habits of 2,001 UK adults.
It found the main barrier to reading is a lack of time, with audiobooks cited as a popular solution to the problem.
According to the results, 72% of those surveyed said they had bought a book in any format over the last year, with 21% of book buyers using an audiobook.
It found 54% of audiobook buyers listen to them for their convenience, while 41% said they choose the format because it allows them to consume books when reading print isn't possible. In all, 27% of audiobook consumers listen to them at least once a week while 22% said they were able to retain information better.