Religious Presses and Childrens & Young Adult Books saw increased revenue; all other measured categories declined. Print books return to growth in hardback and paperback formats, and board books saw nearly double-digit growth

Washington, DC; June 15, 2017 – Publishers’ book sales for trade (consumer) books from Jan. to Dec. 2016 were flat -0.2% at $7.1 billion. While Religious Presses and Childrens & Young Adult Books (Childrens/YA) saw growth in 2016, the Adult Books category (which comprises more than 65% of all revenue for trade books) saw a 2.3% decline.

Overall publisher revenue for 2016 was $14.3 billion, down 6.6% from 2015. These numbers include sales for all tracked categories (Trade - fiction/non-fiction/religious, PreK-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, Professional Publishing, and University Presses).

In the Association of American Publishers' first report on industry sales for 2016, the organization found that total revenue fell 6.6% in the year, compared to 2015.

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