Market Data

Here you will find information on current figures about the German book and trade magazine market.

Do you have questions about developments in the German-language book market that are not answered by "Buch und Buchhandel in Zahlen"? Then please, send us a message with your specific research request. We will immediately check whether we can provide you with the desired information via a special evaluation based on the current stock of titles in the German books in print database Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Bücher (VLB).

For "Die 100 größten Verlage" (The 100 largest publishers), our trade magazine Börsenblatt annually determines the companies with the highest sales in the German-language book industry. These companies primarily offer books and book-related media, such as calendars, as well as trade journals and database solutions. The survey takes into account general publishers with programmes for all age groups, scientific and specialist publishers, and providers of educational media. The data is based on information provided by the companies themselves, supplemented by editorial research.

Overall, the 100 largest publishers saw a slight year-over-year increase in revenue in 2025. However, there are significant differences among individual market participants and industry segments. Fifty of the top 100 companies reported higher revenue, while 43 saw a decline. The weak performance of the consumer and educational markets was offset by specialized information and academic publishers. 

Börsenblatt has dedicated its topic of the week “"Analyse: Fachinformation als Stabilisator" (Analysis: Specialized Information as a Stabilizer”) to the key findings of the analysis, including revenue distribution by segment and the revenue share of publishing groups. Through an in-depth analysis of the figures and a long-term examination of industry revenue, trade journalist Thomas Wilking provides a detailed insight into the economic development of the 100 largest publishers.

The comprehensive ranking is available online as a 120-page e-paper and costs 89 euros: www.boersenblatt.net/die-100-groessten-verlage

Zeitschriften-Informations-Service (ZIS) provides information on 1,240 trade magazines, scientific journals and cultural magazines from more than 250 publishing houses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The service includes information on publication dates and important publishing house data and is available online via the German books in print database Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Bücher (VLB) and its public research platform buchhandel.de as well as an annually updated catalog.

Here you can browse and search the catalog online: Livebook | buchhandel.de