Ukrainian-Language Books Approach 90%: Ukraine’s Publishing Industry in Numbers

Ukraine published 15,069 books and pamphlets in 2025, with a combined print run of 33.21 million copies. Of these, 13,379 titles were in Ukrainian, accounting for close to 90% of the total. In 2021, before the full-scale invasion, there were 21,095 titles, of which Ukrainian-language books had not yet reached 80%.

These figures come from the Ivan Fedorov Book Chamber of Ukraine (Книжкова палата України імені Івана Федорова), the body responsible for national publishing statistics and legal deposit. The following summarises the situation as of September 2026, based on the Chamber’s published annual tallies and the text of laws in the Verkhovna Rada’s legal database.

Five Years of Titles and Print Runs

According to the Book Chamber’s figures, in 2022, when the full-scale invasion began, the number of titles fell to less than half the previous year’s level, to 9,691, and the print run fell to about a quarter, to 11.7 million copies. Since 2023 the number of titles has returned to around 15,000, but has not reached the 2021 level.

Year	Titles	Print run (thousand copies)	Of which Ukrainian (titles)	Share in Ukrainian	Of which Russian (titles)
2021	21,095	44,753.6	16,206	76.8%	2,576
2022	9,691	11,704.2	7,968	82.2%	762
2023	15,187	24,664.0	12,688	83.5%	700
2024	14,500	34,017.2	12,597	86.9%	472
2025	15,069	33,210.7	13,379	88.8%	260

Russian-language books fell from 2,576 titles in 2021 to 260 in 2025. As a share of the total, this is a fall from 12% to under 2%. Besides “Ukrainian” and “Russian” in the table, there are also books in foreign languages such as English, and books combining Ukrainian with another language. In 2025 there were 433 titles in English and 858 multilingual titles.

Half the Print Run Is Textbooks and Study Aids

It is educational books that push up the print run. In the Book Chamber’s 2025 figures, the “educational and methodological literature” category has 3,996 titles and 17.57 million copies, more than half of the total print run. “Literature and folk tales” has 4,496 titles and 8.33 million copies, and books for children and young people have 1,918 titles and 4.21 million copies. In 2021, literature had 4,157 titles and 3.6 million copies, so while the number of titles is about the same, the print run has more than doubled.

The 2025 figures include 3,642 titles translated from other languages. Also, 7,203 titles had print runs of 500 copies or fewer, close to half of all titles.

The Figures Rise Later

This statistic counts the legal deposit copies that publishers send in as required by law. On its statistics page, the Book Chamber warns that, because publishers do not always send their deposit copies by the deadline, year-on-year comparisons of the kind once made “no longer make sense.” Even in the 2025 figures, 1,387 titles had no print run recorded.

When deposit copies arrive late, the figures rise afterward. As of 21 September, the 2026 figures stand at 8,948 titles and 15.38 million copies. It is safer not to read mid-year figures, or figures published early, as a final total for that year.

Kharkiv and Kyiv

By region, in 2025 the city of Kyiv had 4,948 titles and 14.95 million copies, and Kharkiv Oblast had 3,714 titles and 13.23 million copies; together these two account for close to 60% of titles and more than 80% of the print run. Among the oblasts that include Russian-occupied territory, Donetsk Oblast had 1 title, Luhansk Oblast had 1 title, and Kherson Oblast had 7 titles.

The Book Chamber itself has also been affected. On its website, it appeals for support, saying that Russian attacks on Kyiv in 2025–2026 damaged its building and knocked out its heating, water and drainage systems. Its “National Archive of Printed Matter” holds more than 15 million items.

The Ban on Importing Books from Russia and Belarus

Adopted in 2022, Signed a Year Later

Legal moves to restrict the inflow of Russian books began before the full-scale invasion. Law No. 1780-VIII of 8 December 2016 added Article 28-1 to the Law on Publishing, requiring permission to import publications from the “aggressor state” (Russia) and occupied territory.

After the full-scale invasion, on 19 June 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law No. 2309-IX, rewriting this article. However, the president did not sign it until a year later, on 22 June 2023. The law was published in the official gazette Holos Ukrainy on 24 June 2023 and took effect the following day, 25 June. The circumstances leading up to the signing are reported by an article from the Ukrainian media watchdog Detector Media.

What Was Banned

The rewritten Article 28-1 of the Law on Publishing broadly provides for the following.

• Publications produced, published or shipped from Russia, Belarus, or occupied Ukrainian territory may not be imported, sold or distributed. Excepted is the distribution of items published in occupied territory before the occupation
• Books containing the work of authors who held, or hold, Russian citizenship at any point after 1991 are likewise banned. Excepted are those who gave up Russian citizenship and hold (or held, at the time of death) Ukrainian citizenship
• Russian-language books published in other countries may be imported and distributed with permission from a state body. The permit is valid for the term of the contract with the rights holder, up to a maximum of five years
• When an individual brings in books not for sale, up to 10 copies in personal luggage are exempt from this restriction. Excepted are books listed in the register of “publications with anti-Ukrainian content”
• A business that distributes books in violation faces a fine of twice the minimum wage for a first offence, and ten times the minimum wage from a second offence onward

The provision banning the distribution of books by Russian-citizen authors does not apply to books published within Ukraine before 1 January 2023 (transitional provisions of the same law).

The same law also added a provision to Article 26 of the State Language Law. It establishes the principle that books are to be published and distributed in Ukrainian, in the languages of Ukraine’s indigenous peoples, or in an official language of the EU, with exceptions such as works in their original language or translations into those languages; this has been in effect since 1 January 2023. The State Language Law as a whole is covered in the article on Ukraine’s State Language Law and its staged implementation.

State Support: Translation, Libraries, Bookshops and 18-Year-Old Readers

At the centre of state support for publishing is the state body, the Ukrainian Institute of Book (Український інститут книги). Law No. 954-VIII of 28 January 2016 added provisions on the Institute to the Law on State Support for Book Publishing (2003, No. 601-IV). Article 7 of that law lists the Institute’s purposes as supporting publishing, promoting reading, encouraging translation, and introducing Ukrainian literature abroad.

Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 638 (12 June 2019, as amended, in the version as of 31 January 2026) sets out how the state budget allocated to the Institute is to be used, as follows.

• Purchasing books to add to public library collections. The Institute selects and buys books, distributing them to national and oblast libraries and elsewhere. Ukrainian-language books are bought from domestic publishers
• Events to promote reading and Ukrainian literature (book fairs, literary festivals, etc.)
• Support for projects translating Ukrainian literature into other languages
• Operation of the “Ukrainian Digital Library”
• A state grant for citizens to buy books (explained below)

“Translate Ukraine,” which funds the publication of Ukrainian literature in translation, is mentioned in the article on where to start reading Ukrainian literature.

The State Subsidises Bookshop Rent

Law No. 2313-IX of 19 June 2022 established a subsidy under which the state covers part of the rent for bookshops specialising in book sales. Applications have been accepted since 1 April 2023. The conditions include that at least 80% of the shop’s sales be books in Ukrainian or another specified language, and at least 80% of the shop’s floor area be sales space; books from Russia or occupied territory do not count. The subsidy cap, depending on the local population, is 0.08–0.35 times the monthly subsistence minimum (an amount set annually by law) per square metre, for up to 50–150 square metres of floor space. The most generous rate applies to the city of Kyiv and international airports.

“yeKnyha” at Age 18

Law No. 3731-IX of 22 May 2024 established a grant for citizens to buy books. It applies to citizens who turned 18 on or after 1 January 2024, and payments have been made since 1 July 2024. Anyone who applies within a year of turning 18 receives, into the earmarked account “єКнига” (yeKnyha), an amount equal to 0.3 times that year’s subsistence minimum. It can be spent only on Ukrainian-language books (print, e-book or audiobook) bought from registered bookshops; books from Russia or occupied territory cannot be bought with it. Applications are made through the state’s electronic government portal.

The same law also provides for the same grant to be paid to parents when a child is born, but this is to begin on 1 January of the year following the end of martial law.

Books are also eligible under a separate scheme that refunds part of the price of domestically made goods. This is covered in the article on the National Cashback programme.