Ukrainians are reading significantly more during war – and Russian-language books are disappearing
One spinoff of spending time in bomb shelters or blackouts could be that Ukrainians are reading more.
The number of Ukrainians who read books everyday has increased significantly to 17% in 2023, compared to only 8% in 2020, the Ukrainian Book Institute’s "How Ukrainians Read During a Full-Scale War - 2023" survey results were published on Oct. 13.
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"Ukrainians have begun to read more. It's significantly more, and this should be taken into account when shaping future state policies to promote reading, support reading, and book publishing," said Oleksandra Koval, the institute's director.
54% of respondents said they read exclusively in Ukrainian, which is another significant increase compared to 22% in 2020. The number of Russian-language readers in Ukraine has dropped to less than 10% in 2023. It was 27% in 2020.
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Printed books are most often bought by people aged 30-39. The most read books are contemporary novels, science fiction, and books on psychology and self-improvement.
When it comes to reading/listening to books in general, printed books are the most popular format. Reading is most commonly practiced by individuals with a secondary or higher education.
More than half of the respondents said that they hadn't bought any print books in the past year, but 34% had bought between one and twelve books. People in the 30-39 age group were the most likely to buy print books most frequently. Electronic and audio books continue to be less popular among respondents.
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The share of Ukrainian children who read books has increased in all segments - daily, weekly and monthly readers. The proportion of children who never read for leisure has decreased from 18% to 15%. Boys read less than girls; boys are more likely than girls to say they never read, while girls are more likely than boys to read daily.
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