US Publishing Revenue Hit $33.4 Billion in 2025, Led by Religious Presses and Audiobooks
The US publishing industry pulled in an estimated $33.4 billion in 2025, up 2.5% from the $32.5 billion recorded a year earlier, according to the Association of American Publishers' StatShot Annual report released on 11 August 2026 (Publishing Perspectives).
AAP Chief Operating Officer Syreeta Swann called the figures evidence of "a healthy and agile publishing industry." The numbers are compiled by the independent firm Industry Insights, drawing on survey responses from more than 1,600 publishers who reported $12.3 billion in revenue directly, plus an additional $21 billion estimated through extrapolation, market modelling and research.
Trade publishing — the books general readers buy in shops and online — grew 2.7% to an estimated $21.7 billion. Within that segment, religious presses posted the largest single-category gain, up 9.3% to $2.2 billion. Adult fiction rose 3.9% to $7.1 billion, while adult nonfiction edged up 1.3% to $6 billion. Children's and YA fiction gained 0.9% to $5.4 billion, and children's and YA nonfiction inched up 0.3% to $1.0 billion.
Outside trade, the picture was mixed. Higher Education Course Materials jumped 8.5% to $4.7 billion, and University Presses — the non-profit academic imprints attached to research institutions — rose 4.9% to $368 million. PreK-12 Instructional Materials fell 2.5% to $5.2 billion, and Professional and Scholarly publishing (excluding journals) dipped 1.2% to $1.3 billion.
Print still carries the industry. It accounted for 50.6% of all US publishing revenue in 2025, with hardcover sales up 3.9% to $8.2 billion and paperbacks up 2.1% to $8.0 billion. In the trade segment specifically, print held an even larger share at 73.1% of publishers' revenue.
Digital formats accounted for 21.5% of trade revenue. Trade digital audio — downloadable audiobooks — rose 5.3% year over year, and ebooks were up 3.0%. Across all publishing categories, digital formats made up 14.2% of revenue.
The five-year trend tells a more dramatic story. From 2021 to 2025, total US publishing revenue grew 16.1%, with trade revenue up 17%. The religion segment led that trade growth with a 49.1% jump over five years. Digital audiobooks climbed 61.4% across the same period, while ebook revenue increased 11.0%. PreK-12 Instructional Materials, despite the single-year dip, rose 29.2% over five years. University Presses gained 17.8%, Higher Education Course Materials rose 6.7%, and Professional Books declined 4.6%.
Monthly snapshots from late 2025 had already signalled momentum. September 2025 revenue reached $1.7 billion, up 14.4% over September 2024 (AAP). December 2025 brought in $1 billion, up 9.4% year over year (AAP).
For readers, the headline is straightforward: the industry that produces the books on library shelves and bedside tables grew in 2025, and it grew across most of the categories that matter to them — fiction, nonfiction, children's books and audiobooks alike.
