Most Ukrainians read no more than five books a year. In addition, they preferred printed books.
This is stated in the sociological study “Reading in the context of media consumption and life design”, published by the Ukrainian Book Institute.
“67% of the population read printed books during the year, 28% – electronic, and 15% – listened to audiobooks, most of them read or listened to only 1-5 books per year. Compared to 2018, from 4% to 2% decreased the share of those who has read 26 or more printed books, “the study said.
Among printed book readers who have read at least one book in the last 12 months, 40% have purchased books, 39% have borrowed from a home library, 35% have borrowed from friends, 17% have borrowed from a public library, and 13% have received as a gift. and 7% – took in the school library. Daily readers often bought books.
Among e-book readers who have read at least one book in the last 12 months, 69% of respondents downloaded books for free, 4% bought, and 2% used an online subscription. The survey states that 22% did not want to answer questions, which may indicate a desire to hide the fact of using pirated content.
Most often, e-books are read from a smartphone (69%), 19% – from a tablet, 17% – from a computer or laptop and only 7% from a device for reading books.
The study also found that 59% of audiobook listeners downloaded audiobooks for free, 4% bought, and 2% used an online subscription. 32% did not want to answer the question, which may indicate a desire to hide the fact of using pirated content.
The study was conducted by the method of personal interviews at home of respondents in August-September 2020 throughout Ukraine except for the uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. A total of 2,100 adults aged 15-59 and 1,800 children aged 6-17 were interviewed.
