Sales of e-books and audiobooks are on the rise in Europe

Brussels – In 2025, the number of people buying e-books and audiobooks in Europe has increased. According to Eurostat, last year 9.5 per cent of European residents who had used the internet in the previous three months bought an e-book or an audiobook. This marks an increase from the 7.3 per cent recorded in 2024. Ireland (24.5 per cent), Denmark (22.5 per cent) and Croatia (21 per cent) stand out with the highest percentages, while Hungary (4.7 per cent), Italy (4.4 per cent), Slovenia (4.2 per cent) and Latvia (3.6 per cent) show figures below 5 per cent. Compared to 2024, Croatia shows an upward trend of 16 per cent, ahead of Greece (+7.2 per cent), Germany (+3.7 per cent) and Cyprus (+4.0 per cent). Conversely, Finland (-4.8 per cent), Portugal (-1.6 per cent), and Malta (-0.1 per cent) show declines.

The data comes from the EU annual survey on the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by households and individuals. Conducted annually since 2002, the survey gathers information on topics such as internet use, e-commerce, e-government, privacy and personal data protection, the Internet of Things (IoT), green ICT, and digital skills.

The same survey in 2024 has highlighted a preference among European readers for print formats: 14.7 per cent of Europeans had purchased books, magazines or newspapers, compared with 6.8 per cent who had downloaded e-books or audiobooks. Ireland (28.3 per cent), the Netherlands (23.5 per cent) and Luxembourg (22.7 per cent) stood out for their purchases of printed books and magazines, while in Denmark, Cyprus, and Finland, purchases of e-books and audiobooks exceeded those of printed books. In 2024, too, Ireland (22.3 per cent) and Denmark (19.7 per cent) were the countries where the highest number of people purchased an e-book or an audiobook, while Bulgaria (1.8 per cent), Latvia (2.5 per cent), and Romania (2.6 per cent) were at the bottom of the list.