From classic fiction to mysteries, the ever-rising popularity of books means readers are able to dive into more enticing page-turners than ever before – with global book sales expected to exceed 129 billion USD by 2023. Still, the impending question lingers – which European cities are home to the biggest booklovers?

Interested to find out, TheKnowledgeAcademy.com identified the number of libraries and bookshops across European capital cities, aswell as Eurostat expenditure on newspapers, books and stationery to reveal the best and worst cities to be a bookworm.

Top 10 worst European cities to be a bookworm:

Zagreb among Europe’s worst capital cities for booklovers

Taking the 15th spot in the study is Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, with a final score of 4.35/10. Earning just above the median score for its libraries (6.25/10), Zagreb's low scores for its bookshops (2.18/10) and expenditures (4.61/10) contributed to its overall low ranking.

TheKnowledgeAcademy.comcan also reveal that the worst European city for booklovers is Skopje, North Macedonia which earned a final bookish score of 0.31/10; as it tallied the same underwhelming scores for both its libraries and bookshop (0.31/10).  

Subsequently, the second worst European city for booklovers according to the study is Bucharest, Romania - which earned a final bookish score of a mere 1.19/10. Bucharest earned disappointingly low scores for its libraries (2.18/10), bookshops (0.62/10) and expenditures (0.76/10), which contributed to its overall rank.

Another Balkan entry in third position is Serbia’s capital, Belgrade with a final bookish score of 1.77/10. Belgrade earned 3.75/10 for its bookshops, 1.56/10 for its libraries and zero for expenditures – collecting low scores across all categories.