Number of Poles who read at least one book a year highest since 2010 but still a minority

The proportion of Poles who say they have read at least one book in the last year rose to 43% in 2023, up by nine percentage ponts on 2022 and the highest figure since 2010 in a regular survey carried out by Poland’s National Library.

Meanwhile, 8% of Poles say they have read at least seven books in the past year, a figure that has remained relatively stable over the last decade. Polish women (50%) are more likely to have read at least one book than men (36%).

The most-read author for the fifth year running was prolific crime and thriller writer Remigiusz Mróz. In second place was American horror writer Stephen King followed by Polish Nobel laureate Henryk Sienkiewicz.

While in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, there was a rise in reading, the following two years then saw a decline to all-time low figures of 38% of Poles who had read at least one book.

“There are many signs that we have emerged from the long shadow of the pandemic and that other difficult circumstances, including the war that has been going on across our eastern border, do not stand in the way of increased optimism,” wrote the National Library regarding the 2023 results.

According to the new data, the group most likely to have read at least one book in the last year are those still studying (68%). Among this group, 15% have read at least seven books.

Meanwhile, 54% of people with a university education read at least one book, compared to 27% of people with only primary education. Readership is highest among those aged 25-39 (48%) and lowest among those aged 60 and over (37%).

The National Library noted that the requirement for public libraries to be open on at least half of Saturdays during the year has widened the accessibility of libraries for working people.

“The largest increase in the use of public libraries (by 4.6 percentage points) was among men aged 25-39, i.e. those potentially raising young children,” reads the report.

“This is important because the male role model and the active involvement of fathers in reading socialisation are conducive to the establishment and consolidation of reading habits among children, especially boys.”

Despite rising book prices, nearly half of Poles (48%) said they bought a book last year, 12 percentage points more than in 2022. In contrast, the proportion of people borrowing books from friends fell by eight percentage points.

Poles are also most likely to read physical books; books in digital format are read by only 7% of Poles.

Criminal and thriller novels are still Poles’ favourite genre, with 28% of people declaring that they read those last year. Casual literature and romance are also popular (22%). Non-fiction is also growing in popularity (11% last year against 7% in 2020).

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Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.