Lithuania 3.5.2

The publishing industry in Lithuania is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Council of Culture, and the Lithuanian Culture Institute. In 2014 – 2016, the Ministry of Culture implemented the first National Literature Programme that had five strategic directions: support of the creators of literature, reading promotion, strengthening the institutions operating in the field of literature and its dissemination, their cooperation and coordination, increasing the awareness of Lithuanian literature in the world, and facilitating the development and dissemination of children’s and young people’s literature. While implementing this programme, the Ministry established an advisory Council of Literature that acts as an expert and consultant in formulating and implementing the policy of literature and its dissemination to this day.

The Lithuanian Council for Culture supports literature and publishing through its programme for literature and individual grants for writers. The literature programme funds the following activities: 1) professional creation and its dissemination in Lithuania and abroad; 2) events; 3) accumulation of information (archiving, documentation) and its dissemination; 4) publishing; 5) professional criticism and analysis; 6) networking and mobility; 7) co-production; 8) development of mastery and education. In 2014-2025, the Council has financed 851 literature projects and allocated EUR 5 190 178 to them.  It also awarded 890 individual grants to writers, allocating nearly €3 million.

The Ministry of Culture encourages writers, translators and critics of literature with annual awards and premiums for the best works: the Armchair of the Translator of the Year (in cooperation with the Lithuanian PEN Centre), St. Jerome’s Prize (in cooperation with the Lithuanian Association of Literary Translators), as well as the Yotvingian Prize and the Young Yotvingian Prize (in cooperation with the Association “Druskininkai Poetic Fall”). Martynas Mažvydas Premium for merits to the Lithuanian language, history of writing and book art is awarded for the best research achievements in Lithuanian literature, language history, culture and book science.

The reading promotion is performed by the Ministry of Culture and state libraries. The first reading promotion programme was approved in 2006, and since then, it has been constantly updated. The programme supports various reading promotion initiatives and projects. The most popular of them is the election of the “Book of the Year” (organised by Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania), the “Top 12 Most Creative Books” competition (organised by the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore), the summer reading action “Reading challenge”, and the event “Lithuania Reads” (coordinated by the Lithuanian Publishers Association) organised on 7 May, the Press Recovery Day.

The Lithuanian Culture Institute implements the Translation Grant Programme that supports the translations of Lithuanian literature into foreign languages. The programme has been ongoing in Lithuania since 2001; it was first run by the public institution “Books from Lithuania”, but since 2010, the work has been continued by the Lithuanian Culture Institute. Over the 25 years since the establishment of the programme, it has supported the translation of  568 Lithuanian literary works into 53 languages. The Lithuanian Culture Institute also provides information about Lithuanian authors to foreign publishers, publishing and translation houses and organisations; organises presentations of Lithuanian writers’ books at international book fairs, creative symposiums, and other events.

The literature dissemination function is also performed by the international Vilnius Book Fair. The fair is the major event of the Lithuanian book publishing industry that has been organised since 1999. During the twenty-six years of its existence, Vilnius Book Fair has become the biggest and most important book fair in the Baltic States. It gives a possibility to evaluate the whole publishing market of Lithuania and the neighbouring countries, and to get to know new names of the literary world. The Fair is also the main meeting place of publishers, authors, and readers. Over 500 cultural events are held annually during the four opening days, and the Fair attracts more than 60 000 visitors. The main accent of the Fair is on books and cultural events, as well as on the possibility for authors to interact with their readers.

Data on Lithuanian books and the press publishing industry is provided by the National Library and the Official Statistics Portal. According to the National Library, in 2024, the number of publishers who have published at least one book, brochure or booklet was 481, although the number of publishing houses that actively operate in the Lithuanian publishing market is around 50. The Lithuanian Publishers Association, established in 1989, currently unites 56 active publishing houses as well as NGO’s mostly concentrating on specialised publishing. In 2024, Lithuania’s book publishers released 3 144 books with a total print run of 5 375 900 copies. The number of titles has changed little over the past 10 years—fluctuating around 3.1–3.5 thousand—while print runs have been declining. Meanwhile, the number of people who read is growing, as is the average number of books read. Over the past decade, the share of residents who read at least one printed book rose from 62% in 2014 to 69% in 2024. The average number of books read per resident changed from 7.4 in 2014 to 9.5 in 2024.

 

Table 17: Number of published titles of books and brochures by type and year

	Number of titles of books and brochures
Books and brochures by purpose	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	Total by purpose
Scientific literature	352	277	257	215	269	200	189	202	162	159	2282
Legal literature	20	21	12	11	12	1	11	17	11	5	121
Educational literature for schoolchildren	321	263	355	265	186	236	163	176	133	238	2336
Educational literature for students	175	145	113	97	94	56	61	72	57	48	918
Informative literature for children	66	106	110	109	120	102	107	89	95	101	1005
Popular literature	800	830	778	832	1 009	897	882	912	847	777	8564
Fiction for adults	919	879	920	818	1 011	1 022	1 230	1 109	1 012	1 102	10022
Fiction for children	418	457	376	415	407	461	571	499	482	442	4528
Reference literature	165	137	131	160	192	141	121	123	123	124	1417
Others	339	157	139	153	179	141	142	144	124	148	1666
Total each year	3575	3272	3191	3075	3479	3257	3477	3 343	3 046	3 144	32859

Source: Official Statistics Portal

Part of the Lithuanian publishing industry consists of the printed and electronic press. According to the data from the Official Statistics Portal and the media research company KANTAR, there has been a steady decline in publishing and reading of printed media over the last 10 years. According to the KANTAR data of 2023, at least one issue of a periodical was read by 68.6 % of the 15-74 years old Lithuanian population, and this is 15.4 % less than in 2013. The number of newspaper titles diminished almost in half, from 222 in 2015 to 120 in 2024. Annual circulation of newspapers copies diminished by more than half, from 97 650 in 2015 to 40 829 in 2024.

 

Table 18: The statistics of the Lithuanian printed media industry in 2015–2024

Year Indicators	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Number of newspaper titles (units)	222	216	207	188	184	168	154	140	132	120
Annual circulation of newspapers (copies)	97 650	93 162	84 409	79 304	72 924	63 781	56 534	54 650	47 485	40 829
Number of periodicals titles (units)	550	566	541	527	538	491	473	466	448	435
Annual circulation of periodicals (copies)	52 461	50 080	46 399	42 746	42 201	39 127	37 822	37 111	33994	31130

Source: Official Statistics Portal

Till 2023, the financial support for printed and electronic media had been allocated by the Press, Radio and Television Support Foundation. The Foundation implemented 6 funding programmes, 4 of which were related to the press industry: 1) periodicals of culture and art; 2) national periodical press; 3) regional periodical press; 4) the internet media. In 2024, the Press, Radio and Television Support Foundation was abolished, and its function was overtaken by the new Media Support Fund. The Fund provides state support through four programs: 1) cultural media and cultural periodicals; 2) regional media; 3) news, investigative, and educational journalism; 4) media in national minority languages and media for the Lithuanian diaspora. In 2024, the Media Support Fund had financed 329 projects and allocated EUR 5 931 380.

 

Table 19: Results of the funding competition of the Press, Radio and Television Support Foundation of 2017-2023

Year       Programme	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
	Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR	Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR	Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR	Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR	Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR	Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR	Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR
Periodicals of culture and arts	30 /    565 000	33 / 545 000	32 / 653 034	30 / 641 407	28 / 654 098	29 / 758 019	19 / 764 773
National periodical press	33 / 221 120	34 / 212 800	35 / 247408	34 / 262 772	30 / 252 527	30 / 282 900	25 / 289 327
Regional periodical press	99 / 641 670	89 / 614 500	88 / 650116	84 / 644 986	77 / 643 545	80 / 759 601	57 / 747 600
Internet media	71 / 431 252	73 / 429 000	75 / 414090	79 / 413 500	81 / 417 100	86 / 474 299	72 / 477 200
Total	233 / 1 859 042	229 / 1 801 300	230 / 1 964 648	227 / 1 962 666	216 / 1 967 270	225 / 2 274 819	173 / 2 278 900

Source: The Press, Radio, and Television Support Foundation

In general, the Lithuanian publishing and press policy of the last 10 years is directed to the promotion of reading, creation of national literature and dissemination of Lithuanian literature abroad. From these three directions, the Lithuanian Cultural Policy Strategy 2030 emphasises the promotion of reading. The Strategy states that it is necessary to support a positive public attitude towards reading, to develop a culture of reading and to strengthen schoolchildren’s reading abilities through creative promotion of literature and books.