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Survey: EU dwellers turn to internet for cultural purposes

July 10, 2025

In 2024, people in the EU widely used the internet for cultural purposes. The most common activity was watching TV or videos online, reported by 79 per cent of internet users, according to data from Eurostat. This was followed by reading online news sites, newspapers or news magazines (70 per cent), listening to or downloading music (65 per cent) and playing or downloading games (34 per cent).

The highest shares of internet users watching TV or videos online were recorded in the Netherlands and Finland (both 96 per cent) and Cyprus (94 per cent), while the lowest were observed in Romania (44 per cent), Bulgaria (55 per cent) and Slovakia (63 per cent).

Reading news online (from sites, newspapers or magazines) was reported by 91 per cent of internet users in Czechia, 90 per cent in Finland and 89 per cent in Cyprus. By contrast, the lowest shares were in Romania (50 per cent), France (56 per cent) and Italy (62 per cent).

Over one-third of users bought cultural goods and services online

In 2024, 36 per cent of internet users in the EU purchased some kind of cultural goods and services online.
Subscriptions were popular, particularly those to films, series and sports streaming services (30 per cent) and to music streaming services (21 per cent). One-quarter of internet users (25 per cent) bought tickets to events.
When it comes to reading habits, printed books, magazines and newspapers (16 per cent) were more popular than e-books and audio books (7 per cent).
Additionally, internet users paid to download software (11 per cent), games (10 per cent) and a minor part purchased physical copies of other audiovisual contents such as music and films or series (6 per cent).

Data presented in this article refers to all individuals in the EU aged 16 to 74 who used internet in the 3 months before the survey.

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