OSDEL study links reading habits in Greece to education, social background and access to books

A study by OSDEL, Greece’s collective management organisation for literary works, found that reading behaviour in Greece is closely linked to education, social background and access to books at home and during childhood. The findings are relevant as Greece has declared 2026 the Year of Reading Culture under the title DiavaZOUME (“We Read/Live”).

The study, titled “Readings, Readers: The Book and its Audience in Greece”, examined reading behaviour in the country. It was conducted from January 2021 to February 2022 under the scientific direction of Nikos Panagiotopoulos, professor of sociology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

According to OSDEL, the research was the first study of its kind in 12 years after the corresponding survey by the National Book Centre of Greece. It aimed to record and interpret the factors that shape reading behaviour after the economic and health crises that affected Greece’s publishing landscape. The quantitative part of the research was carried out by Metron Analysis in October and November 2021, using computer-assisted telephone interviews and based on a nationwide random sample of 1,500 people aged 16 and above who could communicate sufficiently in Greek.

The study found that Greece’s population is divided into non-readers, non-intensive readers and intensive readers. The average number of books read by the general population was five, while the median was only two.

Lack of time was the main reason most respondents gave for not reading books. Among non-readers, the main reason was that reading was not attractive to them. More than 80% of the books read were in print format. E-books were read mainly by young men.

Greek literature, foreign literature and history ranked as the top three preferred book categories. Crime fiction appeared in fourth place in 2021. According to the study, readers turned to books for information, enjoyment of literary art and escape from everyday life. Word of mouth was an important factor in book purchases, while physical bookstores remained the main purchase channels. The internet also played a growing role, including chain bookstore websites and publishers’ websites.

The study found that the higher the respondents’ level of education, the higher their reading index. Respondents with a higher level of education had an average reading index of 8.1, compared with 3.5 among respondents with a lower level of education.

The research also linked reading behaviour to family and home libraries. The more books respondents had at home, or had in their childhood libraries, the higher their reading index was over the previous year.

In its conclusions, the study stated that reading inequalities produce social and cultural inequalities. It also argued that efforts to promote reading cannot have lasting results unless the social conditions that make reading possible are also addressed.

In 2026, the Hellenic Foundation for Book and Culture declared the Year of Reading Culture, focusing on children, adolescents and the younger generation. The programme includes activities in bookstores, libraries and public spaces and is being developed in cooperation with institutional reading and book organisations, including library, publishing, authors’ and children’s book organisations.

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