A NIPI Books reference
Book publishing & reading statistics.
A concise, sourced look at the U.S. book landscape: publishing revenue, formats, reading habits, and the businesses that make books possible.
Last updated October 29, 2026. Figures retain the reporting year used by their original source.
The picture in brief
Books still live across formats, habits, and communities.
Publishing is not one market and reading is not one behavior. Print remains central, digital audio is growing, and the audience for fiction, family stories, and shared reading is shaped by changing habits. These figures are collected here to make the underlying public data easier to find, quote, and revisit.
Each statistic links directly to its original source. The figures describe the United States and should be read in the context of the source’s date and methodology.
The figures
Seven statistics worth knowing.
$33.4B
U.S. publishing revenue in 2025
The Association of American Publishers estimates this total across books and course materials in print and digital formats, up 2.5% from 2024.
Association of American Publishers, StatShot Annual, published August 10, 202650.6%
of U.S. publisher revenue came from print in 2025
Hardback, paperback, mass market, and special bindings together remained the largest format group in AAP's annual report.
Association of American Publishers, StatShot Annual, 2025 calendar-year report$2.5B
U.S. digital-audio revenue in 2025
Digital-audio revenue rose 5.3% from 2024, showing how strongly readers continue to meet books in more than one format.
Association of American Publishers, StatShot Annual, 2025 calendar-year report48.5%
of U.S. adults read at least one book in 2022
The National Endowment for the Arts reports this share for print or electronic book reading in the previous 12 months, excluding reading required for work or school.
National Endowment for the Arts, Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, 202237.6%
of U.S. adults read novels or short stories in 2022
The NEA describes this as the lowest share recorded by its survey, which makes attentive, memorable books all the more valuable to the readers who seek them out.
National Endowment for the Arts, Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, 20225%
of U.S. adults took part in a book club or reading group in 2022
The share was unchanged from 2017 in the NEA's survey, pointing to the steady role of reading communities alongside individual reading.
National Endowment for the Arts, Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, 20222,537
book-publisher establishments in the United States in 2022
The Census Bureau's Economic Census counted these establishments in its book-publishing industry category.
U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic CensusMethod & sources
Built for clear citation, not hot takes.
This page brings together the latest applicable figures available from the Association of American Publishers, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the U.S. Census Bureau as of October 29, 2026. It does not combine different studies into a new estimate or fill gaps with projections.
- Association of American Publishers, 2025 StatShot Annual report, published 2026
- National Endowment for the Arts, 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, published 2023
- National Endowment for the Arts, reading-group analysis from the 2022 survey
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census for book publishers
Cite this page
“Book Publishing & Reading Statistics.” NIPI Books, updated October 29, 2026, https://nipibooks.com/book-publishing-statistics/
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