The Covid-19 pandemic and the government restrictions associated with it have resulted in a drop in people’s activity in many areas. However, it is participation in culture that has been most dramatically affected. The proportion of Poles who went to a concert last year dropped by 28 percentage points (from 42% in 2019 to 14% in 2020), which made it the lowest since records began. Likewise, numbers of cinemagoers fell by 27 points (from 53% to 26%), reaching levels last seen in the 1990s. In 2020, 16% of Polish adults went to an exhibition, an art gallery or a museum (a drop of 17 percentage points) and 9% went to the theatre (a drop of 12 points).

These results are obviously connected with the enforced closure of cinemas, museums or theatres for much of the year, and a general ban on cultural events. In such a situation a rise could be expected in those cultural activities that were not subject to restriction, like reading books, for example. The data collected shows, however, that readership levels in 2020 were similar to, or even slightly lower than, the previous year. The proportion of Poles to read at least one book for pleasure was 58%, compared to 61% in 2019.

More on this subject in the CBOS report.