The share of EU residents who buy printed books, magazines or newspapers online in 2023 remained significantly higher than those who buy e-books, online editions of magazines or newspapers. This is indicated by data from Eurostat, published on the website of the statistical agency on the occasion of today’s World Book Day.
In 2023, 13.4 percent of EU residents bought printed books online in the last three months before the data was collected. This is a slight increase from 2022 (12.7 percent), but below the 2021 level (14.5 percent).
The share of people who have bought online e-books or online editions of magazines and newspapers is roughly half that of those who have bought printed versions.
E-books were purchased by 7.2 percent of EU residents in 2023 – an increase from 2022 and a stable level from 2021.
In 2023, the highest proportion bought paper books online in the previous three months in The Netherlands (23.5 percent). Followed by Luxembourg (22.2 percent) and Ireland (21.1 percent). This share was lowest in Cyprus (1.4 percent), Latvia (2.9 percent) and Bulgaria (3.7 percent).
The most online purchases of e-books in the same year were reported in Denmark (22 percent), the Netherlands (21.6 percent) and Ireland (16.9 percent). While the lowest levels are reported in Cyprus (0.6 percent), Bulgaria (2.0 percent) and Romania (2.2 percent). Denmark and Finland are the only countries where more people report buying e-books than print books in the past three months.
Tags: Bulgaria ranks terms online purchases electronic printed books
