Books in translation: how Europe reads between the lines (report)

We like to pretend Europe is a rich mosaic of different languages. The data tells another story. The new report shows that English dominates our bookshops so heavily that smaller local voices are simply getting priced out.

We like to think Europe is a happy blend of different cultures talking to each other. We read each other’s books, share ideas, and pretend language barriers do not exist. But if you look at the data, the reality is quite different.

A new report titled Books in Translation: Trends and Transformations in the European Publishing Market, published in April 2026 by researchers Miha Kovač, Rüdiger Wischenbart, Yana Genova, and Anja Kamenarič, looks into how books actually move across European borders. It turns out our cultural exchange is not as balanced as we would like to believe.

So what is happening in the market? The main finding is that English keeps dominating everything. Most translated titles coming into European bookshops are originally written in English. Meanwhile, books written in smaller European languages struggle to get noticed or translated at all.

At the same time, publishers face heavy economic pressure. Printing costs are going up, unit sales are dropping in many countries, and buying translation rights is getting expensive. When money gets tight, publishing houses choose safe bets. And a safe bet usually means a bestseller from the UK or US, not a literary novel from Slovenia or Poland.

The report clearly shows that commercial logic alone cannot save linguistic diversity. Without public subsidies, translation grants, and institutional support, books from smaller markets simply stay home. Countries with strong state support manage to keep a varied selection of languages on their shelves. Where support is weak, English takes over almost completely.

Another annoying detail mentioned by the authors is that we still lack good, harmonized data across Europe. National libraries and trade groups collect information differently, so tracking these flows accurately is harder than it should be.

Is this just a problem for publishers? Not really. If we only read books translated from one dominant language, we lose the chance to understand our immediate neighbours.

Translation is not just business; it is cultural infrastructure. If we do not support it properly, we will end up living in a very one-sided European culture.