EU Book Buyers

A
Anke Janssen
B
Bram van den Berg
D
Darius Jurevicius
E
Eimear O'Sullivan
E
Elodie Lefebvre
J
Jonas Lindqvist
K
Klaus Fischer
M
Marta Popa
P
Petros Georgiou
S
Sofia Rossi
Description

EU Book Buyers are a culturally engaged consumer segment spanning all adult age groups across EU member states, defined by a strong preference for physical formats and a growing but secondary appetite for digital reading. Print dominates online purchasing decisively, with 14.7% of EU residents buying printed books online versus only 6.8% downloading e-books or audiobooks in 2024, with Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg leading adoption. The RISE Bookselling consumer study further reveals that bookshop discovery, personal recommendations, and price sensitivity are key behavioural drivers shaping where and how EU readers buy, while the broader European media and entertainment market, valued at $454.3 billion in 2025, underscores the scale of the sector these buyers participate in.