Russia printed 57.3 million books and brochures in the first quarter of 2026, down 26% from the 77.5 million printed in the first quarter of 2025, according to figures presented at the Book Industry in Russia conference.
The independent Russian news outlet The Bell noted that the decline was the steepest in at least six years. Comparable drops had occurred in 2020, when print runs fell 19% during the pandemic, and in 2023, when they fell 23% in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Conference participants also flagged a growing gap between online and in-store sales. Brick-and-mortar retail sales in 2025 totaled 36.9 billion rubles, the lowest in seven years.
Conference participants cited rising taxes, inflation, falling household incomes, and a declining birthrate. “Fewer children are being born, and if they also end up reading less, that will flatten the entire book industry very quickly,” said Yevgeny Kapyev, director of the Eksmo publishing house.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.
