Readers still prefer paper books despite rise of digital options

Paper books remain by far the most popular reading format despite the rise of e-readers and audiobooks, a study by ABN Amro has found.

Figures from Dutch publishers showed that physical books accounted for 86% of the total market in 2025, broadly in line with other countries such as the United States where paper books account for four-fifths of all sales.

The share of the total revenue is even larger because printed books are more expensive to produce, allowing for larger profit margins. E-books accounted for 6% of the total Dutch sales volume of €42 million.

The resilience of books at a time of advancing technology partly comes down to their simplicity: books do not need to be charged up, cannot crash or be deleted and can be replaced cheaply if necessary.

But books also have a prestige that makes them attractive to readers, ABN Amro wrote in a report titled “the paper book is still king”.

“Readers value the contact with paper, turning the page and even the smell of a book,” they said.

Status symbol

“A paper book is a possession that stands out from the bookcase, a sign of identity and status. So paper books are still attractive in a digital age because of the old-fashioned, analogue and direct character of the reading experience.”

Research at Tokyo University using MRI scanners found that reading on paper stimulates different processes in the brain from using a screen, promoting deeper understanding in readers and better retention of the information.

Nearly half of readers use paper books exclusively, while another 43% use a combination of printed, electronic and audio books. Only 2% listen exclusively to audiobooks, while another 5% only read e-books.

Lisa Kuitert, professor of book studies at the University of Amsterdam, said she was unsurprised by the findings.

“Ever since the emergence of digital books people have been saying the end of paper books is on its way. But people who say that aren’t readers,” she told the Financieele Dagblad. “People who enjoy reading prefer paper.”

Challenge of AI

ABN Amro said paper books were here to stay, but other formats were becoming increasingly important alternatives – particularly audiobooks, which people can listen to while on the move or exercising.

Mario Bersem, senior economist specialising in media and technology and one of the report’s authors, told Dutch News that bookshops still had a healthy future despite a sharp decline in the sector in the last 15 years.

“The number of bookshops has fallen hugely since 2010, but the drop was mainly at the start, when people started buying more from webshops. That shift seems to be behind us,” he said.

“Bookshops have become places to meet, much more than they used to be, where you can get a cup of coffee or attend a reading. But they are also still the main places where people buy books: 55% of books are sold over the counter.”

The report also said that an increasing number of published books are using AI for research, editing, translating or even producing texts. By one estimate, half of ebooks published in the United States in 2025 showed signs of AI use.

The use of AI has led to rows about authorial rights and compensation, as AI models are trained on published texts. In June Dutch publishers signed a “book pact” to protect authors from intellectual property theft and create a mechanism for paying royalties.

“For publishers AI clearly represents both an opportunity and a risk,” ABN Amro said in their report. “Technology can help with developing and distributing texts, but it can also put pressure on the value of intellectual property.”