Summer is the season for reading—the book you choose for your holiday bag or to leaf through on the beach. And while it may seem that everything has migrated to the screen, the numbers tell a different story. The latest ISTAT survey, which cross-references the Aspects of Daily Life (2025) and Citizens and Leisure Time (2024) studies, confirms that the print format is not merely holding its own; it remains the undisputed protagonist of Italian reading habits.
A figure worth noting: 71.5% of readers choose paper alone
Among those who dedicate part of their leisure time to reading, the picture becomes even clearer: 88.7% turn physical pages, while only 10.2% rely exclusively on e-books. Despite digitisation having conquered every other sphere of daily life, the book as an object retains a dominance that shows no sign of waning. Even after the push towards digital reading seen during the pandemic years, the trend has reverted to consolidate paper’s supremacy: among children up to ten years old, exclusively physical reading reaches 90.8%; among those over 65, it stands at 83.6%. The weight, the scent of ink and the materiality of the pages continue to represent a form of cultural consumption that the screen has not managed to replace.
Who reads, what they read and why
In 2024, 57.1% of Italians aged six and over read at least one book during the year: roughly 32 million people. Women make up the majority of readers (62.6% compared to 51.2% of men), while the 11–14 age group records the highest proportion (78.9%). Older adults, by contrast, tend to lose touch with the habit, often citing lack of time or, quite simply, boredom. Yet those who have maintained their relationship with reading do so with consistency: nearly four out of ten leisure readers pick up a book at least once a week, and almost half choose novels and short stories by Italian authors.
Personal pleasure remains the primary driver: 66.3% say they read out of passion, 33.6% to relax. And reading confirms itself as an experience that cherishes the tangible: even those who visit libraries—15.1% of the population, a figure stable for the past decade—do so mainly to borrow books and to study among the shelves.
The book as an object that lasts
ISTAT’s figures powerfully confirm a reality: paper is not a nostalgic relic; it remains the backbone of publishing today. And we could not agree more. Digital reading, though it has grown among younger and more educated readers, remains a minority practice. The physical volume, meanwhile, spans generations, geographies and genres, sustaining a deep relationship with those who turn its pages.
For those of us at Grafica Veneta, who work every day to transform a manuscript into a concrete object, these data are not merely confirmation: they are a measure of an attention that deserves to be preserved. Because behind every printed page lies a choice, a reader and a piece of culture that endures.
