International Book Markets 2025: Fiction continues to drive growth as non-fiction remains under pressure and price increases partially slow down

NielsenIQ BookData and GfK Entertainment have released their international data for 2025 at The London Book Fair.

NielsenIQ BookData and GfK Entertainment have released their international data for 2025 at the London Book Fair. The representative data shows revenue growth in 12 of the nineteen territories analyzed, driven in particular by fiction. Average book prices rose in almost all markets, though in many places the rate of increase had slowed compared with the previous year.

The international book markets paint a mixed picture for 2025: While 12 of the nineteen territories surveyed - including high-growth markets such as India (+20.7%), Brazil (+11.2%), and Mexico (+7.0%) - reported revenue increases, sales continued to decline in major European markets such as Italy (-2.1%), France (-1.5%), and the United Kingdom (-0.5%). Oceania, on the other hand, showed a notable upswing: after experiencing losses the previous year, both Australia (+3.2%) and New Zealand (+6.9%) finished significantly in the positive range.

Strong demand for fiction, children's and young adult books

As in 2024, fiction stood out as the market's strongest growth driver. The representative annual data shows that 15 of the territories analyzed increased their revenues in this segment. Crime authors such as Freida McFadden and thriller specialists like Dan Brown were particularly popular: One or more of McFadden's titles appear among the top 20 bestselling books of the year in nine territories, with The Housemaid the number one bestseller overall in France, Spain and Wallonia. Dan Brown's new novel The Secret of Secrets ranked among the three bestselling books of 2025 in five territories: Colombia, Flanders, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal. Science fiction and fantasy titles - including Rebecca Yarros' Empyrean series - also enjoyed worldwide success. Children's and young adult books mirrored this positive performance, recording revenue growth in three quarters of the markets analyzed.

The Let Them Theory performs strongly among non-fiction buyers

The non-fiction market remains under pressure, with only seven territories reporting revenue growth year on year in 2025. Bestsellers such as Mel Robbins' behavioral guide The Let Them Theory proved resilient, becoming the bestselling book of the year in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa. Many readers also gravitated toward Atomic Habits (James Clear), Ikigai (Héctor García & Francesc Miralles), and The Psychology of Money (Morgan Housel).

Ten territories report growth in unit sales

When looking at unit sales - the total number of books sold - ten territories managed to grow. Here, too, the differences were considerable: South Africa (+4.6%) sold more books compared to the previous year, as did Australia (+1.4%) and New Zealand (+9.6%). Mexico also recorded 2 higher unit sales, though its growth rate slowed from +10.6% to +3.9%. Poland (-4.9%), Italy, and the Netherlands (each -3.0%) reported significant declines.

Price increases slowing in many markets

Average book prices continued to rise in 2025 - except in New Zealand (-2.5% to 21.54 NZD) and South Africa (-1.2% to 363.41 ZAR). However, half of the markets surveyed posted smaller price increases than in the previous year, including India (+1.8% compared with +8.1% the year before) and Brazil (+0.5% compared with +9.0%). The UK book market saw prices rise by 2.0% to 9.52 GBP in 2025, while France recorded a 1.0% increase to 12.83 EUR.

About study

About the study: The analysis is based on point-of-sale data on printed books for 2025 for the following territories: Australia, Belgium (Flanders/Wallonia), Brazil, Colombia, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland (German-speaking and Romandy regions), and the UK. Market coverage and included genres may vary from country to country.

About GfK Entertainment

GfK Entertainment is a supplier of charts and market research data to the Books, Games, Music, and Video industries. It works closely with the relevant industry bodies and currently carries out market research in over 30 countries. For more information, visit: gfk-entertainment.com.

About NielsenIQ BookData

NielsenIQ BookData offers a comprehensive range of services to the international book industry, supporting the discovery, purchase, distribution, and sales measurement of books. We proudly manage the ISBN and SAN Agencies for the UK & Ireland, providing publishers with a suite of services, from assigning ISBNs to adding metadata to our database, along with promotional tools to help market your book effectively.

For booksellers and libraries, we offer access to our database of over 53 million book records for title look-up, enriching websites, and managing internal systems. Our research services deliver retail sales analysis for both print and e-books across 19 territories, complemented by insights from our Books and Consumers Survey, as well as Country and Genre-specific reports.
For more information: nielseniq.com/bookdata