ReadingTime

Returns the estimated reading time, in minutes, for the given page.

Syntax

PAGE.ReadingTime

Returns

int

Hugo calculates the estimated reading time by dividing the number of words in the content by a reading speed of 212 words per minute.

For content in CJK languages, set hasCJKLanguage to true in your project configuration. When enabled, Hugo applies CJK word counting rules and a reading speed of 500 words per minute to pages containing CJK characters. To override this behavior on a given page, set the isCJKLanguage field in its front matter.

{{ printf "Estimated reading time: %d minutes" .ReadingTime }}

Reading speed varies by language. Create language-specific estimated reading times on your multilingual project using site parameters.

languages:
  de:
    contentDir: content/de
    label: Deutsch
    locale: de-DE
    params:
      reading_speed: 179
    weight: 2
  en:
    contentDir: content/en
    label: English
    locale: en-US
    params:
      reading_speed: 228
    weight: 1

[languages]
  [languages.de]
    contentDir = 'content/de'
    label = 'Deutsch'
    locale = 'de-DE'
    weight = 2
    [languages.de.params]
      reading_speed = 179
  [languages.en]
    contentDir = 'content/en'
    label = 'English'
    locale = 'en-US'
    weight = 1
    [languages.en.params]
      reading_speed = 228

{
   "languages": {
      "de": {
         "contentDir": "content/de",
         "label": "Deutsch",
         "locale": "de-DE",
         "params": {
            "reading_speed": 179
         },
         "weight": 2
      },
      "en": {
         "contentDir": "content/en",
         "label": "English",
         "locale": "en-US",
         "params": {
            "reading_speed": 228
         },
         "weight": 1
      }
   }
}

Then in your template:

{{ $readingTime := div (float .WordCount) .Site.Params.reading_speed }}
{{ $readingTime = math.Ceil $readingTime }}

We cast the .WordCount to a float to obtain a float when we divide by the reading speed. Then round up to the nearest integer.

Last updated: August 14, 2026 : content: Clarify affect of hasCJKLanguage and isCJKLanguage (713f17b05)

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