Frankfurt Book Fair held under cloud of poor sales, declining literacy

The mood in the book industry is rather gloomy ahead of the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, with younger people reading less, the number of new titles and translations falling, and both sales volumes and revenues declining, reported dpa.

Revenue in the book industry stood at €9.62 billion in 2025, down 2.7% on 2024. After the first eight months of 2026, the figure fell further and now stands 3% below the same period last year.

The number of book buyers is shrinking, by nearly 5% overall between 2024 and 2025. Particularly alarming is the number of readers between the ages of 10 and 15, which fell by more than 30% compared with the previous year, while the figure for those aged 20 to 29 dropped by nearly 18%.

What is being read more and what less?

Interest is falling in most categories: Travel books are down 11.6%, advice and self-help books down 8.1%, non-fiction down 4.6%, children's and young people's books down 2.4%.

Revenue rose only in the following categories: fiction up 1.2%, young adult titles up 4.8%, new adult up 9.6%.

What is the picture for e-books and online retail?

The number of first editions is falling: 52,644 new titles were published in 2025 - nearly 10% fewer than in 2024. The number of translations into German also declined.

While online sales remained stable, bricks-and-mortar bookshops saw a 3.7% decline in 2025. The e-book market settled at a stable level. Audiobook revenues rose by more than 13%.