Cyprus had the lowest rates of online book purchases among EU member states in 2023. According to Eurostat data released on World Book Day, only 1.4% of Cypriots bought printed books, and just 0.6% bought e-books, magazines, or newspapers online. This is in stark contrast with the EU average, where 13.4% bought printed books and 7.2% bought e-books or digital periodicals during the same period.

In general, the percentage of EU residents buying printed books, magazines, or newspapers online in 2023 was significantly higher than the proportion purchasing e-books and digital versions of magazines and newspapers. In the first three months of 2023, 13.4% of EU residents had purchased printed books online. This represents a slight increase from 12.7% in 2022 but a decrease compared to 14.5% in 2021.

Meanwhile, the percentage of those buying e-books and digital magazines or newspapers online was about half that of those purchasing printed editions, reaching 7.2% in 2023. This was a slight increase from 6.6% in 2022 but stable compared to 2021.

Among EU member states, the highest rates of online purchases of printed books in the previous three months were recorded in the Netherlands (23.5%), Luxembourg (22.2%), and Ireland (21.1%). The lowest rates were found in Cyprus (1.4%), Latvia (2.9%), and Bulgaria (3.7%).

As for e-books, the highest percentages of the total population who purchased them online in 2023 were in Denmark (22.0%), the Netherlands (21.6%), and Ireland (16.9%). The lowest rates were observed in Cyprus (0.6%), Bulgaria (2.0%), and Romania (2.2%).

Denmark and Finland were the only countries where more people purchased e-books than printed books during the three months prior to data collection.