Turning pages: Print books in Canada

Print books continue to be the format of choice for the Canadian book market. Over 90% of Canadian readers reported reading a print book, as reported in the Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2023. At the same time, 79% of books purchased by Canadians in 2023 were print books, as tracked by the Canadian Book Consumer Study 2023. While BookNet Canada has been tracking the sales of print books through BNC SalesData since 2005 and the habits of print book consumers through the Canadian Book Consumer Survey since 2011, Turning Pages: Print Book Use in Canada 2023 is the first study exclusively devoted to the behaviour of print book consumers.

Turning Pages: Print Book Use in Canada 2023 benchmarks print book use in Canada, exploring the buying, borrowing, and reading habits of Canadian print book consumers. This study also tracks the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current economic climate on print book use, by comparing data from 2023 with past years.

Highlights from the study 

• Canadians are reading print books more than any other format — 92% of all Canadian readers read at least one print book in 2023.

• The average price that print book buyers paid for their books has increased over the last five years. Print book buyers spent an average of $17.72 for paperbacks and $24.04 for hardcovers in 2024. 

• Print book buyers purchased books more in-person than online in 2023 — 53% in-person purchases and 47% online purchases.

• In 2023, 84% of all Canadian book borrowers borrowed print books.

• The majority of Canadian print book borrowers visited the library online and in-person at least once in 2023 — 92% of print book borrowers visited the library online and 71% visited the library in-person. 

• Print book borrowers were more likely than all book borrowers to borrow books for someone else in 2023. Just 59% of Canadian print book borrowers borrowed books only for themselves, compared to 65% of all book borrowers. 

• Canadian print book readers in 2023 are more concerned with sustainability than ever before. Over three quarters (76%) of print book readers donate or give away a print book after they finish reading it, and 70% want books to be made from sustainably-sourced paper.