August 26, 2025
AAP StatShot Annual Report: Publishing Revenues Totaled $32.5 Billion for Calendar Year 2024
Today, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) released the StatShot Annual report covering the calendar year 2024, estimating that the U.S. publishing industry generated a robust $32.5 billion in aggregate publishing revenue for books and course materials across print and digital formats, an increase of 4.1% as compared to $31.3 billion in 2023.
“This year’s report shows encouraging levels of year-over-year growth across multiple categories during 2024 and paints a picture of an industry that is dynamic, fast-moving, and continuing to evolve,” commented Syreeta Swann, Chief Operating Officer, Association of American Publishers. “In reference to the five-year period covered by StatShot Annual, we saw the continuation of some long-term trends, including the dominance of print formats, which accounted for more than half of the overall market for each of the five years, and sustained growth for the Digital Audio format, which has seen a revenue increase of nearly 80 percent since 2020.”
Calendar Year 2024 StatShot Annual Report Highlights:
During 2024, Trade (consumer books) increased by 4.4% to an estimated $21.2 billion.
- Higher Education Course Materials revenue increased by 1.8% to $4.3 billion.
- PreK-12 Instructional Materials increased 5.1% to $5.3 billion.
- Professional Books increased 2.5% to $1.4 billion.
- University Presses increased 3.1% to $350 million.
In the industry overall, print formats (Hardback, Paperback, Mass Market, and Special Bindings) accounted for 50.5% of publishers’ revenue. During the year, revenue from the Hardback format climbed 3.6% to $7.9 billion, while Paperbacks increased 3.2% to $7.8 billion.
Within Trade, the Hardback and Paperback formats together accounted for nearly three-quarters of revenue (72.9%), maintaining their position as the most popular formats with $7.7 billion in revenue each. On a year-over-year basis within Trade, the Hardback format was up 3.6% and the Paperback format climbed 3.0%.
Digital
In the industry overall, digital formats (Digital Audio and eBooks) accounted for 14% of all revenue for 2024, representing a revenue increase of 11.4% since 2023. Digital Audio increased 22.5% to $2.4 billion in 2024, and eBooks increased 1.5% to $2.1 billion. During the five years covered by this report, revenue for the Digital Audio format grew by a significant 78.1%, and eBooks by 2.0%.
Within Trade, digital formats accounted for 21.2% of the overall revenue for 2024,returning anincrease of 11.8% for the sector. Digital Audio revenue for Trade enjoyed a healthy increase of 22.5% while eBooks increased 1.8%.
Channels
A variety of channels are used within the industry, with publisher sales via Online Retail comprising the largest category at $12 billion. Within Online Retail, 34.5% of revenue was attributable to digital formats (eBooks and Digital Audio), 57.1% to print formats (Hardback, Paperback, Mass Market, and Special Bindings), 6.5% was attributable to Instructional Materials, and 1.9% to Physical Audio or Other formats.
During the year, Physical Retail revenue increased 3.3% to $6.2 billion. Over the five-year period, this channel grew 48.0%.
Within Trade, Physical Retail revenue rebounded from the pandemic-era low in 2020, growing 4.3% to $4.7 billion in 2024 and 74.1% over the five-year period, while Online Retail rose 11.0% to nearly $11 billion in 2024 and 28.5% over the same five-year period, though growth for both channels now appears to be returning to more typical patterns.
Methodology
The Calendar Year 2024 StatShot Annual report is the independent work of Industry Insights, Inc., an expert research and data analytics firm. The report offers a valuable financial overview of the book publishing industry by reporting estimated and aggregate revenue and reported unit sales.
For the calendar year 2024 report, Industry Insights conducted a comprehensive, multi-step analysis. Primary sources included U.S. Census annual and quarterly data, survey responses from publishers, and historical StatShot Monthly and Annual reports from the Association of American Publishers (AAP). Additional reference points included Bowker’s Books In Print, Circana’s BookScan tools with PubTrack Digital, research on independent and self-publishing trends, and data from digital publishing markets. Supplementary context was drawn from relevant economic datasets and publicly available articles on the U.S. publishing industry and individual publishing companies.
All participants were asked to report on all five years covered by this report. This edition accounts for both participation changes and restatements for each year included.
About AAP
AAP | The Association of American Publishers represents the leading book, journal, and education publishers in the United States on matters of law and policy, advocating for outcomes that incentivize and protect works of authorship and the creative, intellectual, and financial investments that make them possible. As essential participants in local markets and the global economy, our members invest in and inspire the exchange of ideas, transforming the world we live in one word at a time. Find us online at www.publishers.org or on Twitter and Instagram at @AmericanPublish.