Free time? Social networks surpass leisure reading in Portugal

ANDm announced today by APEL, the day that opens the fourth edition of the Book 2.0 event in Lisbon, it is indicated that the list of activities for occupation of leisure time is headed by living with friends (91%), followed by social networks (85%), with cinema and audiovisual by streaming in third place (75%) and the following sport (66%). Leisure reading is the next activity, with 62% of respondents' answers.

According to the same text, among those who do not read “the lack of interest is the main obstacle (43%), followed by lack of time (38%) and preference for other activities (33%)”.

In the statement, APEL stresses that “the results reinforce the need for Portugal to assume reading and literacy as national priorities”, recalling that “the book is an essential tool of citizenship, critical thinking, human development, access to knowledge and democratic participation”.

According to the results of the survey – conducted by GfK through interviews with 1,000 people over 15 years -, 78% of respondents say they had read at least one book in 2025, in what is the highest value of the last three years, but 62% said they had bought at least one book last year, below the number of 2023 (65%).

According to the survey, also the average of books per buyer continues to drop, from 7.5 in 2023, to 7 in 2024, and now 6.9 in 2025, something that also happens in books for supply.

“ The results suggest that the growth of the sector observed from the evolution of the retail panel did not translate into a general intensification of the consumption of books by Portuguese families ", can be read in the statement.

In 2025, the sale of books in Portugal grew by 6.9% compared to the previous year, which resulted in a total of almost 15 million books sold, an increase greatly driven by coloring books and children, according to data published by APEL in January.

However, in the second quarter of this year, the sale of books fell by almost 2% compared to the same period of 2025, with the first fall since the pandemic, although it coincided with the realization of the Lisbon Book Fair.

The survey data released today by the association of the sector also indicate that close to one in five Portuguese read without purchase, “which points to the increasing importance of access routes such as loan, libraries, supply, digital and other forms of circulation of books that require the sector to understand better how the expansion of reading can also contribute to the sustainability of the book value chain”.

Still, APEL points out that, among those who call themselves digital readers, more than two thirds use free content, which can go from cloud storage platforms to networks such as Whatsapp and Telegram.

“ These channels may include legitimate uses – such as authorised loans, open-access works or personal file sharing – but are also compatible with illegal and unauthorized content sharing. The understanding of this phenomenon is essential to protect authors, publishers, booksellers and all professionals who integrate the chain of the book, as well as to understand to what extent the expansion of digital reading occurs through legal offer or circulation of content outside the commercial channels ", added the association.

The Book 2.0 meeting – The Future of Reading begins today, at the Cultural Centre in Belém, Lisbon, and until Wednesday will gather national and international figures to discuss the role of the book and reading.