A person is sitting with a book in their hands

The share of the EU residents purchasing printed books, magazines or newspapers online remained significantly larger than that for e-books, online magazines or online newspapers in 2023.

In 2023, at the EU level, 13.4% of the residents had purchased printed books online in the previous 3 months. This was a slight increase from 2022 (12.7%) but still below the 2021 share (14.5%). 

Online purchases of books, magazines or newspapers, physical and digital in the EU, 2021-2023; in the previous 3 months; % of population. Line graph. See link to full dataset below.

Source dataset: isoc_ec_ibgs

The share of the population making online purchases of ebooks, online magazines or online newspapers was approximately half of printed books. Ebook purchases were made by 7.2% of the EU residents in 2023, indicating an increase from the 2022 share (6.6%) but remaining stable compared to 2021.

In 2023, the highest percentage of residents purchasing printed books online in the previous 3 months was reported in the Netherlands (23.5%), followed by Luxembourg (22.2%) and Ireland (21.1%). The lowest shares were reported in Cyprus (1.4%), Latvia (2.9%) and Bulgaria (3.7%).

For ebooks, in the same year, the highest shares were recorded in Denmark (22.0%), the Netherlands (21.6%) and Ireland (16.9%), while the lowest were reported in Cyprus (0.6%), Bulgaria (2.0%) and Romania (2.2%). Denmark and Finland were the only countries with more people purchasing ebooks than printed books in the 3 months prior to the data collection.

Online purchases of books, magazines or newspapers, physical and digital in the EU, 2023; in the previous 3 months; % of population. Bar chart. See link to full dataset below.

Source dataset: isoc_ec_ibgs

This news article was published to celebrate the World Book and Copyright Day.