Revenue for U.K. publishing in 2023 was £7.1 billion—about $8.9 billion at current exchange rates—up 3% from 2022, the U.K.'s Publishers Association reported. The figure comes from the PA’s Statistics Monitor program, whose figures include domestic and export sales; print and digital sales in the trade, educational, and academic sectors, including journal sales in the latter; and export revenue.

With sales up 2%, to £3.6 billion, the academic sector remained the industry's largest category. It was followed by the trade sector, where sales increased 4%, to £2.4 billion. Education book revenue was flat, at £661 million. Approximately £400 million in revenue came from rights sales and other sales streams.

Export and digital sales were "key areas of growth" during the year, the PA said. Consumer fiction and nonfiction revenues were also up, and digital audiobooks saw double-digit download growth.

"A great result for the U.K.'s publishing industry—we've now crossed the £7 billion mark in terms of revenue," Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, said in a statement. "These strong figures reflect the continuing economic value of publishing to the U.K. It's wonderful to see growth in many areas, including export which serves as a reminder of the influence of the U.K.'s publishing sector internationally. The enduring popularity of books and learning means that the sector is still performing strongly in spite of the broader economic headwinds."

Key Figures

  • Export: £4.4 billion (+4%)
  • Digital: £3.2 billion (+5%)
  • Total consumer: £2.4bn (+4%)
  • Fiction: £907m (+8%)

Trade

  • Total: £2.4bn (+4%)
  • UK: £1.5bn (+2% - the annual inflation rate was 4%)
  • Export: £918m (+8%)
  • Fiction: £907m (+8%)
  • Nonfiction: £1.1bn (+5%)
  • Children's: £412m (-4%)
  • Audio downloads: £206m (+24%)
  • Print: £1.9bn (+2%; =home; +6% export)
  • Digital £484m (+13%)
  • Top 3 export countries: Australia (+), US (+), Germany (+)


Education

  • Total: £661m (=)
  • UK: £192m (-12%)
  • Export: £469m (+7%)
  • Print: £566m (=)
  • Digital: £95m (=)
  • Top 3 export countries: Spain (-3%), Egypt (+24%), UAE (+ 2%)

Academic

  • Total: £3.6bn (+2%)
  • UK: £933m (-2%)
  • Export: £2.6bn (+3%)
  • Print: £960m (-2%)
  • Digital: £2.6bn (+4%)
  • Top 3 export countries: US (+2%), Germany (+6%), China (+24%)

A version of this story first appeared in the U.K. BookBrunch newsletter.