Market Data

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

Every year, the reference book "Buch und Buchhandel in Zahlen" (Book and Book Trade in Figures) provides compact and comprehensible information about all countable and calculable facts and relationships in the producing and distributing book trade – the second largest book market worldwide.

In her welcome address to the current issue Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, Head of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association, writes:

"The German book market remains stable and successful. It has recorded positive results for the year. Despite the continuing tense overall economic situation, industry sales in 2024 rose by 1.8 percent compared to the previous year. This shows that
books are able to offer readers guidance and perspective in a complex world full of
crises and challenges with well-founded content and exciting stories. The young target group in particular – between 16 and 29 years of age – is boosting the book market. Young people are enthusiastic readers and the number of those who buy books is increasing."

All the important key figures for the German book market in 2024 are summarised in "Buch und Buchhandel in Zahlen 2025". In its 73rd edition, the figures provide a broad overview of the market development of the past year and figures for the first half of the year 2025.

contents

+ economic situation and prospects

+ digital book formats in Germany

+ book reading and book buying behaviour

+ key business figures

+ foreign trade in book trade goods

+ book production in Germany

+ specialist media

+ book fairs

+ employment and vocational training in the book industry

+ The German Publishers & Booksellers Association

review copies

We are happy to send journalists a review copy of the current issue of "Buch und Buchhandel in Zahlen 2025" on request.

the poster for the book

The most important and interesting figures from "Buch und Buchhandel in Zahlen 2025" are also available as infographics "Bücherjahrmarkt 2024". You can download the poster as a printable PDF file free of charge here. We will be happy to send you a file on request.

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.

In 2024, the 100 largest book publishers in German-speaking countries grew by an average of 1.6 per cent. Forty-five of the top 100 companies generated an increase in sales, while 35 achieved lower sales than in the previous year. The figures are based on information provided by the companies themselves, supplemented by research carried out by the editorial team.

2024 sind die 100 größten Buchverlage im deutschsprachigen Raum im Schnitt um 1,6 Prozent gewachsen. 45 der Top-100-Unternehmen haben ein Umsatzplus erwirtschaftet, 35 haben weniger umgesetzt als im Vorjahr. Die Angaben beruhen auf Selbstauskunft der Unternehmen, ergänzt durch Recherchen der Redaktion.

The Börsenblatt dedicated its topic of the week "So groß sind die Größten" (This is how big the biggest are) in issue 15-2025 to the key findings of the evaluation, including the distribution of sales by segment and information on the proportion of women in management positions at the listed companies.

review copies

We are happy to send journalists a free review copy of the current issue of ‘Die 100 größten Verlage 2025’ on request.

The information service on trade magazines Zeitschriften-Informations-Service (ZIS) provides information on 1,500 trade magazines, scientific journals and cultural magazines from more than 300 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