The German book industry reported a 1.8% increase in revenue for 2024, reaching €9.88 billion ($11.56 billion), according to data released by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association (GPBA). With Germany's inflation rate at 2.2% in 2024, the market's growth of 1.8% translates to a real decline of around 0.4% when adjusted for inflation.
"The book market is holding its own in tough times," said GPBA chairwoman Karin Schmidt-Friderichs in a statement.
Physical bookstores maintained their position as the largest sales channel, generating €4.08 billion ($4.77 billion) in revenue, a 0.6% increase from 2023. In real terms, this represents a decline of approximately 1.6%. Online book sales, including digital stores operated by physical bookstores, grew 4.4% to €2.51 billion ($2.94 billion), representing real growth of about 2.2% after adjustment for inflation.
Fiction remained the largest product category, accounting for 36.6% of total revenue, with a 4.3% increase compared to the previous year. When adjusted for inflation, fiction showed real growth of approximately 2.1%. Children's and teen books showed a 0.6% gain, translating to a real decline of about 1.6%. Nonfiction titles recorded an 8.1% increase, representing real growth of approximately 5.9% after inflation.
The audiobook segment continued to drive growth, with turnover rising 7.3% from 2023 to 2024, representing real growth of about 5.1%. Digital downloads now represent 49.2% of audio revenue, while streaming accounts for 43.4% and physical CDs comprise 7.4% of the segment. E-book sales stabilized with an unchanged 6.1% market share, though turnover grew 2.2% nominally, representing flat performance when adjusted for inflation.
Younger readers added to publishers' bottom lines: book buyers ages 16 to 19 increased by 9.6% in 2024, while those ages 20 to 29 grew by 7.7%. Some of this may be attributed to the introduction of the KulturPass in 2023, which gives every German citizen €200 to spend on cultural activities, including buying books. But the trend may be short lived, as the the association reported concerns about literacy levels.
"Interest in books is high, but we are only reaching those who are functionally literate," Schmidt-Friderichs said. "One in four children is left behind because they lack sufficient reading skills."
The total number of book buyers declined 2% in 2024, excluding the growth in younger demographics.
Backlist titles comprised 57% of all books sold in 2024, up from 48%, a decade ago. Publishers released 58,346 new titles, a 3.1% decrease from the previous year. Translation activity remained stable at 8,756 titles.
"The cultural and creative industries are a highly significant economic factor in Germany—with the book market representing the largest segment in terms of content-related revenue," Peter Kraus vom Cleff, GPBA managing director, said. "Yet the economic impact of global turmoil, from wars to crises, is also being felt in the book industry."
The association also expressed concern about artificial intelligence. Kraus vom Cleff noted that publishers and bookstores are exploring AI applications for business processes while seeking regulatory clarity. "However, when it comes to generative AI, key issues remain unresolved at the political level," he said, "such as how to deal with the millions of copyright violations through the training of AI models."
License sales to international markets increased 2.2% in 2024. German publishers sold 6,669 book rights abroad. China, Italy and the Czech Republic were the primary buyers.
Early 2025 results showed revenue down 3.3% in the first six months compared to the same period in 2024, though fiction maintained growth with a 0.9% increase.
