DAMASCUS, November 11 (RIA Novosti) - The average person in the Arab world reads no more than four pages a year, the Syrian newspaper Tishreen said on Tuesday, referring to a UN survey.

The survey said Americans read an average of 11 books a year, while the average Briton gets through eight books.

Conclusions made by the Arab Thought Foundation, which reports on cultural development in Arab countries, are also far from inspiring.

Calculations showed that the number of readers in the Arab world was no higher than 4% of readers in Britain.

Khalid Al Faisal, the president of the foundation, said just above 8% of people in Arab countries aspired to get an education, against 91% in South Korea and 72% in Australia.

The survey testifies to the scarcity of book printing in Arab countries, with one new title published each year for every 12,000 people, against one per 500 in Britain and one per 900 in Germany.