The publishing industry in the United States had a slight decline in digital book sales in 2022, with a 6.6% decrease and $1 billion in revenue. Digital audiobooks, however, saw an increase of 7.0%, coming in at $839.5 million. Physical audio was down 29.8%, with $15.8 million in revenue. Ebooks accounted for 11% of the entire publishing industry, while digital audiobooks were 9%.
Trade revenues were down 6.2%, with $9.1 billion for the calendar year. Hardback revenues were down 13.9%, coming in at $3.2 billion; paperbacks were up 1.1%, with $3.3 billion in revenue; mass market was down 25.5% to $181.6 million; and special bindings were down 8.1%, with $206.4 million in revenue.
Religious press revenues were down 6.1%, reaching $757.7 million. Hardback revenues were down 6.6% at $452.5 million, paperback revenues were down 9.7% to $126.3 million, ebook revenues were down 12.4% at $55.2 million, and digital audiobook revenues were up 5.6% at $42.0 million.
Higher Education Course Materials revenues were $2.9 billion, down 7.5% compared to 2021. Professional Books revenues for calendar year 2022 were $457.4 million, down 5.5% as compared to 2021.
It’s clear that digital book sales in the United States have taken a slight dip in 2022, but digital audiobooks have seen an increase in revenue. It’s interesting to see how different types of books have been affected by this decline, with hardback and paperback books seeing different levels of success and religious press and higher education course materials taking a hit as well. It’s important to keep an eye on these numbers as we move into 2023 to see if the publishing industry can make a comeback!
