With data showing one in four 15-year-olds struggle to understand a simple text, Denmark is scrapping its 25% VAT on books, the world's highest tax, in a effort to tackle a growing literacy crisis.
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Denmark is turning the page on one of the world’s steepest book taxes.
The government has announced it will abolish the 25% sales tax on books, a move aimed at counteracting what officials are calling a growing “reading crisis.”
Danish Culture Minister Jacob Engel-Schmidt said he hopes the change will see more books flying off the shelves. The plan will cost the state an estimated 330 million kroner (€44m) annually, but Engel-Schmidt argues it’s an investment in the country’s cultural future.
“This is something that I, as minister of culture, have worked for, because I believe that we must put everything at stake if we are to end the reading crisis that has unfortunately been spreading in recent years,” Engel-Schmidt told the Ritzau news agency .
He added: “I am incredibly proud. It is not every day that one succeeds in convincing colleagues that such massive money should be spent on investing in the consumption and culture of the Danes.”
The move follows the release of alarming literacy statistics from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) which has warned that one in four Danish 15-year-olds cannot understand a simple text - a figure Engel-Schmidt admits is “pretty shocking.”
Surveys also show falling reading levels among teenagers, which experts link to shorter attention spans and the endless distractions of digital life.
While Denmark until now has kept books under its steep 25% VAT, its Nordic neighbours have long gone easier on readers. In Finland, books are taxed at 14%, in Sweden just 6%, and in Norway they’re entirely tax-free.
