Book publishing spans consumer trade, educational materials, professional books, university presses, digital audio, eBooks and self-published titles. The statistics below distinguish publisher revenue, ISBN-based title counts, output prices, national accounts and employment measures by geography and period.
Key Book Publishing Statistics
The most broadly useful figures are:
- In calendar year 2024, U.S. books and course-materials publishing revenue was estimated at $32.5 billion.
- In calendar year 2024, U.S. trade consumer-book revenue increased 4.4% to an estimated $21.2 billion.
- In calendar year 2024, print formats represented 50.5% of overall U.S. AAP publisher revenue.
- In calendar year 2024, digital formats represented 14% of overall U.S. publishing revenue.
- In calendar year 2024, digital-audio revenue increased 22.5% to $2.4 billion in the United States.
- In calendar year 2024, eBook revenue increased 1.5% to $2.1 billion in the United States.
- In calendar year 2024, online retail was the largest overall U.S. book sales channel at $12 billion.
- In calendar year 2024, overall U.S. physical-retail revenue increased 3.3% to $6.2 billion.
- In calendar year 2023, more than 2.6 million self-published U.S. titles with ISBNs were recorded by Bowker.
- In calendar year 2023, 563,019 traditionally published U.S. titles were recorded by Bowker.
- In calendar year 2021, 2,298,004 U.S. self-published titles had both ISBNs and BISAC codes.
- In calendar year 2021, fiction led U.S. self-publishing with 335,428 registered ISBNs.
- In 2024, the UK book-publishing-services output-price index was 115.9, with 2015 equal to 100.
- In calendar year 2024, UK publishing, audiovisual and broadcasting activities generated £38,010 million in a combined national-accounts series.
- In 2023, the U.S. Census profile counted 2,347 employer establishments in NAICS 511130 book publishing.
- In May 2022, the broader U.S. publishing industry had 1,870 print binding and finishing workers.
Contents
- Key Book Publishing Statistics
- U.S. Book Publishing Revenue Statistics
- Book Publishing Format Statistics
- Book Publishing Sales-Channel Trends
- Self-Publishing Statistics
- UK Book Publishing Data
- Book Publisher Establishments and Workforce Statistics
U.S. Book Publishing Revenue Statistics
AAP StatShot estimated U.S. publishing revenue for books and course materials at $32.5 billion in 2024, up 4.1% from $31.3 billion in 2023. This is an estimated aggregate rather than a census of every publisher, and it includes books and course materials across several segments.
| U.S. segment | 2024 revenue | Change in 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Trade consumer books | $21.2 billion | +4.4% |
| Higher-education course materials | $4.3 billion | +1.8% |
| PreK-12 instructional materials | $5.3 billion | +5.1% |
| Professional books | $1.4 billion | +2.5% |
| University presses | $350 million | +3.1% |
Source: AAP StatShot Annual Report: Publishing Revenues Totaled $32.5 Billion for Calendar Year 2024. The categories overlap within the reported publishing framework and should not be treated as a consumer-book-only total.
The earlier AAP estimate for U.S. book-publishing industry revenue was $28.10 billion in 2022, down 2.6% from 2021. The 2022 estimate was 8.6% above $25.87 billion in 2019 and 8.7% above $25.86 billion in 2020.
| U.S. segment | 2022 revenue | Change in 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Trade consumer books | $17.36 billion | -6.6% |
| Higher education publishing | $3.18 billion | -7.2% |
| PreK-12 publishing | $5.61 billion | +16.6% |
| Professional books | $1.47 billion | -6.0% |
Source: AAP StatShot Annual Report: Publishing Revenues Totaled $28.10 Billion for 2022. AAP figures are estimated publisher-revenue measures and historical values may be revised.
Book Publishing Format Statistics: Print, eBooks and Digital Audio
Print remained the largest format group in the 2024 AAP estimate. Print formats accounted for 50.5% of overall publisher revenue, while hardback revenue reached $7.9 billion after increasing 3.6% and paperback revenue reached $7.8 billion after increasing 3.2%.
Digital formats represented 14% of overall publishing revenue in 2024 and increased 11.4% from 2023 to 2024. The digital aggregate combines eBooks and digital audio, so it should not be read as an eBook-only share.
| Format measure | 2024 U.S. publisher result | Period or comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Digital audio | $2.4 billion; +22.5% | Calendar year 2024 |
| eBooks | $2.1 billion; +1.5% | Calendar year 2024 |
| Digital audio | +78.1% | Five years through 2024 |
| eBooks | +2.0% | Five years through 2024 |
Source: AAP StatShot Annual Report: Publishing Revenues Totaled $32.5 Billion for Calendar Year 2024. These are publisher-revenue measures, not retail-unit counts; the five-year comparisons are historical comparisons, not forecasts.
Within U.S. trade publishing, hardback and paperback together represented 72.9% of trade revenue in 2024. Trade digital formats represented 21.2% of trade revenue, and trade digital-format revenue increased 11.8% during the year.
Book Publishing Sales-Channel Trends
Online retail was the largest overall U.S. sales channel in 2024 at $12 billion. Its revenue mix was 57.1% print formats, 34.5% digital formats, 6.5% instructional materials and 1.9% physical audio and other formats.
| Sales-channel measure | 2024 result | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Overall online retail | $12 billion | Physical and digital book sales |
| Overall physical retail | $6.2 billion; +3.3% | Sales channel, not a format |
| Trade physical retail | $4.7 billion; +4.3% | Trade subset of physical retail |
| Trade online retail | Nearly $11 billion; +11.0% | Rounded AAP amount |
Source: AAP StatShot Annual Report: Publishing Revenues Totaled $32.5 Billion for Calendar Year 2024. Overall physical-retail revenue was also 48.0% higher over the five-year period ending in 2024, while trade physical-retail revenue was 74.1% higher over that period.
The 2022 AAP estimate provides a separate earlier channel snapshot: online retail revenue was $8.19 billion, down 12.4% year over year, while physical-retail revenue was $5.22 billion, down 5.8%. Direct-sales revenue increased 12.3% to $7.23 billion in 2022; direct sales are distinct from online and physical retail in AAP’s framework.
Source: AAP StatShot Annual Report: Publishing Revenues Totaled $28.10 Billion for 2022.
Self-Publishing Statistics: Titles and Authors
Bowker’s ISBN-based measures show a large self-publishing title count in the United States. Self-published titles with ISBNs rose 7.2% in 2023 to more than 2.6 million, while traditionally published titles fell 3.6% to 563,019.
| Bowker measure | Result | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Self-published titles with ISBNs | More than 2.6 million; +7.2% | 2023 |
| Traditionally published titles | 563,019; -3.6% | 2023 |
| Self-published titles with ISBN and BISAC | 2,298,004 | 2021 |
| Comparable ISBN-and-BISAC titles | 1,551,391 | 2018 |
| New self-published titles with only ISBNs | 2,300,336; -15% from 2020 | 2021 |
Sources: Self-Publishing’s Output and Influence Continue to Grow and Self-Publishing Is Thriving, According to Bowker Report.
Self-published titles outnumbered traditionally published books by more than two million in both 2022 and 2023 in the cited ISBN-based comparison. Self-published ISBN issuance first exceeded one million in 2017, but ISBN issuance is not identical to unique authors, copies sold or all titles.
Fiction led self-publishing in 2021 with 335,428 registered ISBNs. A Bowker author survey reported in 2023 found that 11% of respondents were traditionally published but also self-published; that survey percentage describes respondents and is not a population estimate for all authors.
UK Book Publishing Data: Prices and National Accounts
The UK Office for National Statistics book-publishing-services output-price index uses 2015=100 and measures prices received for publishing services, not consumer book prices, units or publisher revenue.
| Year | UK book-publishing-services output-price index |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 101.8 |
| 2021 | 102.9 |
| 2023 | 112.1 |
| 2024 | 115.9 |
| 2025 | 117.5 |
Source: SPPI INDEX OUTPUT DOMESTIC – J5811 Book publishing services 2015=100. The series is a producer-price measure.
A separate ONS Blue Book series recorded £38,010 million in 2024 for UK publishing, audiovisual and broadcasting activities. Because this series combines publishing with audiovisual and broadcasting activities, it should not be presented as book publishing alone.
| Year | Combined UK activity series |
|---|---|
| 2019 | £32,983 million |
| 2020 | £31,351 million |
| 2021 | £34,152 million |
| 2022 | £35,856 million |
| 2023 | £36,607 million |
| 2024 | £38,010 million |
Source: Publishing, audiovisual and broadcasting activities (£m):CP.
Book Publisher Establishments and Workforce Statistics
The U.S. Census profile for NAICS 511130 counted 2,347 employer establishments classified as book publishers in 2023. Employer establishments exclude nonemployers and internet-only publishers classified elsewhere.
BLS occupation data provide a broader workforce view for the newspaper, periodical, book and directory publisher industry rather than NAICS 511130 alone. In May 2022, the broader industry included 1,760 prepress technicians and workers, representing 6.2% of employment in the cited occupation table.
Print binding and finishing workers numbered 1,870 in that broader publishing industry in May 2022. Their median hourly pay was $17.08, mean hourly pay was $17.16 and median annual pay was $35,700.
Sources: 511130: Book publishers – Census Bureau Profile and Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers – May 2022 OEWS Industry-Specific Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. The BLS occupation and wage measures cover the broader publishing industry, not book publishers alone.