Young adults in Lithuania and Estonia have the worst ethics in deliberate accessing of illegal download sources in the European Union, showed the results of a poll conducted by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reported on Monday, November 4, that the EUIPO study surveyed people between 15 and 24 from 28 EU countries about their internet use habits, including accessing films, TV series and music from illegal download or streaming sites.

In total, over a half of young Europeans, 51 percent, say they have never pirated any content online. To compare, a similar survey in 2016 gave the share of 40 percent.

In 2019, Lithuanians are the worst offenders, with 45 percent admitting they have intentionally used illegal sources on the internet (40 percent in 2016) and 29 percent noting they have never accessed pirated content.

Lithuanians were followed by young Estonians (39 percent intentional users), Greeks and Portuguese (34 percent).

On the other end of the spectrum, there are young adults in Germany, where only 13 percent of young people have intentionally downloaded content illegally, the UK (14 percent), Malta (15 percent) and Romania (18 percent).