Consumer and educational book publishing
The global market for consumer and educational books was worth US$101.6bn in 2012, down from revenue of US$101.7bn in 2008. Revenue is forecast to grow by a CAGR of 1%, to reach a total of US$104.3bn in 2017. Even though growth in printed books is flat or declining in most markets, it is being offset by a rise in revenues from e-books, which will account for 22% of all books sold around the world in 2017, up from 9% in 2012.
North America will have the strongest appetite for e-books in 2017, with e-books across both sectors accounting for 38% of all sales in 2017. In EMEA, e-books will account for 17% of revenues in 2017, followed by 15% in Asia Pacific and 6% in Latin America (admittedly from a low base of just 1% in 2012).
Global consumer and educational book publishing revenues (US$ mn) and e-books share of the market (%) 2008-2017
The total value of the consumer and educational book sectors combined will grow from US$101.6bn in 2012 to US$104.3bn in 2017, a CAGR of 1%. By 2017, electronic books, or e-books, will account for 22% of all book revenues globally, at US$22.7bn, up from 9% in 2012 and driven by the increased adoption of e-reading devices, including tablets. This will help offset flat or declining growth in printed books.
The fastest-growing markets for books will include both traditional markets in Europe and North America and the growth markets in Asia Pacific.
The fastest growing book publishing markets (2013-2017 CAGR %)
Digitisation—fuelled by widespread adoption of tablets and other e-reading devices—will prove a mixed blessing for the book industry in the near term, because although e-book sales will rise, physical bookstores will continue to close.
How we define this segment
This segment is split between consumer and educational books and considers consumer spend in both electronic and print formats. Audio books are included under print books.
The consumer books category covers spending by consumers for personal use.
The educational books category considers spending by schools, government agencies and students. The US splits the market by elementary, high-school and college textbooks (including post-graduate textbooks), the only territory to do so. Books in electronic format, including library and institutional subscriptions to electronic book databases, are also included. Educational books do not include supplemental educational spending, administrative software or testing materials.
What data is included in the online Outlook?
Forecasts for consumer spend in the consumer and educational book publishing segment across 50 countries cover (where available):
· Consumer books print spending (US$ m)
· Consumer books electronic spending (US$ m)
· Total consumer books spending (US$ m) (total = print + electronic)
· Educational books print spending (US$ m)
· Educational books electronic spending (US$ m)
· Total educational books spending (US$ m) (total = print + electronic)
· Total consumer and educational books spending (US$ m) (total = print + electronic)