Nearly UAH 140 mln spent by 18-year-old Ukrainians under eBook program in 2025 – UCI
In 2025, under the eBook program, 18-year-old Ukrainians purchased 434,808 books, roughly three books per person, the Ukrainian Book Institute (UCI) reported.
"A total of 300 brick-and-mortar bookstores and 35 online retailers are participating in the program. Books were sold from 370 publishers, with a total of 26,435 titles available. Overall, Ukrainians spent UAH 139,838,763.99 on book purchases," the UCI said in a statement.
The Institute noted that the top-ranked bookseller was Knyharnia 'Ye', followed by Yakaboo Retail, KSD, Knyholand, and Readeat. Among publishers, KSD ranked first, followed by Vivat, BookChef, Ranok, and VSL.
The top title in the Top 50 books ranking was It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover, who also became the most popular author by the number of books sold.
Year-end results showed that young people most frequently purchased fiction, with non-fiction ranking second.
The Institute also reported that in 2025 the most popular Ukrainian author by number of books sold was Volodymyr Stanchyshyn (4,692 copies), followed by Illarion Pavliuk (2,648 copies) and Andrii Semyankiv (1,901 copies).
Print books dominated purchases, while e-books and audiobooks accounted for just 1.36% of total sales.
"The largest share of spending went to online stores – 58.71% of the total amount, or UAH 82,097,775.86. At the same time, 300 brick-and-mortar bookstores across Ukraine received UAH 57,740,988.13, or 41.29% of total program spending," the UCI added.
As reported, the eBook service was launched in Ukraine on December 16, 2024, allowing 18-year-old Ukrainians to receive UAH 908 from the state for book purchases via the Diia app.
The Ukrainian Book Institute has proposed canceling the deferral of the eBook program for parents of newborns, as well as launching a state subsidy program for bookstores in 2026.
On October 15, 2025, the Ministry of Culture said it was considering financing the replenishment of library collections using funds from the eBook program.
In November 2025, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna said the ministry was working to expand the age limit of the eBook program to 22 years and introduce rent subsidies for bookstores.