Percentage of Europeans Reading At Least 1 Book Per Year

Map created by Landgeist

The map above shows the percentage of people 16+ in most European countries that have read at least one book in the last 12 months. Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark are at the top of the pack whereas Romania, Türkiye and Cyprus are at the bottom.

The data comes from Eurostat. And here’s how it breaks down by gender in each country:

Country	Total (%)	Male (%)	Female (%)
European Union - 27 countries (from 2020)	52.8	44.5	60.5
Belgium	60.1	52.4	67.4
Bulgaria	37.8	29.4	45.5
Czechia	64.2	50.2	77.3
Denmark	72.2	64.4	79.8
Estonia	70.7	61.5	78.6
Ireland	66.5	56.3	76.3
Greece	43	35.9	49.6
Spain	54.2	46.9	61
France	61.6	51.7	70.7
Croatia	42	30.4	52.6
Italy	35.4	30.7	39.8
Cyprus	33.1	25.2	40.4
Latvia	50.4	36.2	61.6
Lithuania	52.4	38.7	63.9
Luxembourg	75.3	69.4	81.3
Hungary	52.4	43.5	60.3
Malta	43.7	35.1	53.1
Netherlands	67.3	60.4	74
Austria	63.7	54.8	72.2
Poland	54.6	40.5	66.6
Portugal	41.9	33.4	49.4
Romania	29.4	24.2	34.3
Slovenia	59.5	47.8	71.2
Slovakia	47.9	32.1	62.8
Finland	69.7	62.5	76.8
Sweden	69.7	63.9	75.6
Norway	71	63.3	78.7
Switzerland	80.6	75	86
Montenegro	35.4	29.9	40.6
Serbia	35.2	24	45.6
Türkiye	30.3	26.3	34.2

Are these numbers higher or lower than you’d expect?