Publishing spans trade books, educational materials, newspapers, periodicals, research services and digital products. The statistics below make the population, geography, period and measurement explicit, while separating title counts, revenue, firms and format shares.
Key Publishing Industry Statistics
The most useful headline measures are:
- 140,187 titles were published in Brazil in 2021, including trade and educational titles.
- 167,267 titles were published in the United Kingdom in 2021, including trade and educational titles.
- 135,126 titles were published in Italy in 2021, including 131,818 trade titles and 3,308 educational titles.
- 109,480 titles were published in France in 2021, including 82,258 trade and 27,222 educational titles.
- U.S. books and course materials generated an estimated $32.5 billion in 2024, up 4.1% from 2023.
- U.S. trade consumer-book revenue reached an estimated $21.2 billion in 2024, up 4.4%.
- U.S. trade online-retail revenue was nearly $11 billion in 2024, up 11.0% from 2023.
- Print formats represented more than half of the U.S. publishing market in every year from 2020 through 2024.
- UK publishing revenue totaled £7.2 billion in 2024, up 1%.
- UK exports generated £4.5 billion in publishing revenue in 2024, representing 63% of covered industry revenue.
- UK consumer publishing sold 696 million net units in 2024, up 5%.
- UK consumer audio-download revenue reached £268 million in 2024, up 31%.
- U.S. publishing industries had 30,116 firms and 38,381 establishments in 2022, under NAICS 513.
- U.S. book publishers had 2,191 firms and 2,537 establishments in 2022, with $29.149 billion in reported revenue.
- Approximately 96% of Wiley research revenue came from digital and online products in fiscal 2024.
- Pearson reported £3.552 billion in sales in 2024, with £541 million in reported operating profit.
- France recorded 19,357 children’s-book titles in 2021 in the WIPO/FEP data.
- Children’s books represented 44.3% of New Zealand trade-sector titles in 2021, the highest share shown in WIPO Figure 8.
Contents
- Global publishing titles and sector scale
- U.S. publishing revenue and format trends
- UK publishing revenue, exports and formats
- Consumer, education and academic publishing data
- Digital, online and research publishing adoption
- Children’s publishing output and market measures
Global Publishing Industry Statistics: Titles and Sector Scale
The WIPO/FEP report covers trade and educational publishing, but country coverage and formats vary. The 2021 title counts are therefore useful as reported national measures, not a perfectly standardized global ranking.
| Country | Total titles, 2021 | Reported split |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 167,267 | 101,812 trade; 65,455 educational |
| Brazil | 140,187 | 84,253 trade; 55,934 educational |
| Italy | 135,126 | 131,818 trade; 3,308 educational |
| France | 109,480 | 82,258 trade; 27,222 educational |
| Türkiye | 95,112 | 74,895 trade; 20,217 educational |
| Spain | 79,373 | Split not reported |
| Japan | 70,551 | 69,052 trade; 1,499 educational |
Source: The Global Publishing Industry in 2021. The source notes country-specific missing values and print-only or trade-only observations.
Additional 2021 national observations include 71,640 titles in Germany, 18,830 in Mexico, and 16,786 in Ukraine. Mexico’s total included 8,048 trade and 10,782 educational titles, while Ukraine’s included 10,213 trade and 6,573 educational titles.
U.S. Publishing Industry Revenue and Format Trends
AAP StatShot estimated U.S. books and course-materials revenue at $32.5 billion in calendar 2024, compared with $31.3 billion in 2023, a 4.1% increase. The estimate combines Census data, publisher surveys and other reference sources.
| U.S. category | 2024 revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Trade consumer books | $21.2 billion | +4.4% |
| PreK–12 instructional materials | $5.3 billion | +5.1% |
| Higher-education course materials | $4.3 billion | +1.8% |
| 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. These are aggregate estimates, not audited figures for every publisher.
Channel measures show different patterns. Physical-retail publishing revenue reached $6.2 billion in 2024, up 3.3% and 48.0% above 2020; trade physical retail reached $4.7 billion, up 4.3% and 74.1% above 2020.
Trade online-retail revenue was nearly $11 billion in 2024, up 11.0% and 28.5% above 2020. Print formats accounted for more than half of the market in each year from 2020 through 2024, while digital-audio revenue increased nearly 80% over that period.
UK Publishing Industry Revenue, Exports and Formats
The Publishers Association reported £7.2 billion in UK publishing revenue in 2024, up 1%. Exports generated £4.5 billion, up 3% and representing 63% of covered industry revenue, while home-market revenue was £2.6 billion, down 2%.
| UK measure, 2024 | Revenue or volume | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Print publishing | £3.8 billion | −3% |
| Digital publishing | £3.4 billion | +6% |
| Consumer publishing | £2.5 billion | +5% |
| Consumer net units | 696 million | +5% |
| Education publishing | £640 million | −3% |
Source: Publishing in 2024. The association’s figures may be revised, and format, sector, home-market and export measures are not interchangeable.
Within consumer publishing, print represented 78% of revenue. Consumer digital revenue was £566 million, up 17%, and audio-download revenue was £268 million, up 31%.
Genre performance was mixed: consumer fiction revenue was £1.1 billion, up 18%, while consumer non-fiction was £1.1 billion, down 4%. Children’s publishing generated £413 million, unchanged from the prior year.
Consumer, Education and Academic Publishing Data
The U.S. Economic Census provides a business-structure view rather than a title or readership view. Under NAICS 513, U.S. publishing industries had 30,116 firms and 38,381 establishments in 2022, with reported revenue of $592.34 billion in the table’s thousands-of-dollars measure.
| U.S. NAICS group, 2022 | Firms | Establishments | Reported revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publishing industries, 513 | 30,116 | 38,381 | $592.34 billion |
| Newspaper, periodical, book and directory publishers, 5131 | 13,326 | 17,405 | $99.411 billion |
| Newspaper publishers, 51311 | 3,891 | 6,589 | $23.235 billion |
| Periodical publishers, 51312 | 3,805 | 4,348 | $24.359 billion |
| Book publishers, 51313 | 2,191 | 2,537 | $29.149 billion |
Source: 2022 Economic Census: Core Statistics Summary Statistics. Census firms, establishments and revenue classify businesses by primary activity; they are not counts of titles, authors, readers or unit sales.
The UK education measures show a narrower domestic result: education publishing revenue was £640 million, down 3%, while home-market education revenue was £171 million, down 11%, in 2024. These figures describe the Publishers Association’s covered sector and should not be treated as total education spending.
Digital, Online and Research Publishing Adoption
Company filings illustrate digital intensity within individual businesses, not the entire publishing industry. John Wiley & Sons reported that research represented approximately 56% of consolidated revenue for the year ended April 30, 2024, and approximately 96% of research revenue came from digital and online products and services.
Wiley learning accounted for approximately 31% of consolidated revenue in fiscal 2024. Businesses held for sale or sold accounted for approximately 13%, so the segment mix should be read in the company’s stated reporting context.
Source: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2024 Form 10-K. These are company-specific segment statistics, not estimates of the research-publishing market.
Pearson reported £3.552 billion in 2024 sales and £541 million in reported operating profit. Its adjusted operating profit was £600 million, up 5% year over year, while sales were 3% lower than 2023 on a headline basis.
Source: Pearson plc Annual Report and Accounts 2024. Pearson’s company-wide learning business is broader than book publishing, and adjusted operating profit is a company-defined non-GAAP measure.
Children’s Publishing Output and Market Measures
WIPO/FEP recorded substantial children’s-book output across the countries shown for 2021. These are title counts, generally in the trade sector, and some country observations are print-only.
| Country | Children’s-book titles, 2021 |
|---|---|
| France | 19,357 |
| United Kingdom | 17,389 |
| Türkiye | 12,540 |
| Italy | 10,951 |
| Germany | 7,641 |
Source: The Global Publishing Industry in 2021. Country-specific format coverage applies.
Reported 2021 children’s-book revenue was $5.252 billion in the United States, $2.141 billion in Germany and $584 million in the United Kingdom. The WIPO presentation converts values to U.S. dollars, and its notes explain that some national figures are market-value calculations and exchange-rate conversions.
Children’s books represented 44.3% of New Zealand trade-sector titles in 2021, the highest share shown in WIPO Figure 8. In Malta, children’s books represented 36.5% of trade-sector revenue, the highest share shown in WIPO Figure 6; neither percentage should be generalized to all publishing markets.