Nielsen survey finds digital formats booming in record year for book sales

Nielsen Book Research's Books & Consumers Survey has revealed that e-book sales rose 16% year on year in 2020 to their biggest total yet, in a record year for book sales in general.

Steve Bohme, Nielsen's research director, said the survey found 95 million e-books were sold in 2020, alongside 257 million print books and 23 million audiobooks. As a whole, the market was 6% up in volume to 375 million books, the highest volume recorded to date, and 7% up in value to £2.65bn, also a record figure for the survey. Print sales fell below 70% of the market share in volume terms for the first time, with e-books rising back up to 25% for the first time since 2016.

Print books rose 2% last year to 257 million books sold—a smaller rise than the Nielsen BookScan Total Consumer Market estimate of 5% growth reported in January, as fewer books were bought from retailers outside of the TCM's panel, such as garden centres, school fairs and some bargain bookshops. Print also recorded a 5% rise in value, to £2.09bn. E-books rose by 15% in value to £387m, and saw their biggest sales spike in April, during the first lockdown.

Audiobooks rose 22% in volume year on year, the sector's seventh year of growth, and jumped 16% in value. Audio also achieved its highest share of the market as a whole, at 6%.

Adult Fiction was up 9% in volume, to 147 million books sold, and 7% in value, to £777m. E-books claimed 50% of the Adult Fiction market in volume terms, with print scoring its lowest share of 43%—though, in value terms, its share was higher, at 57%, with e-books at just 15%. Bohme noted that, with print prices rising and e-book prices dropping across the year, the average e-book cost around half that of the average print book.

Crime, romance, thriller and historical were said to be particularly strong, with readers looking for escapism in 2020. Classics were also boosted, as quarantined Brits finally got stuck into the titles they had never quite got around to reading.

Non-Fiction, after a strong 2019, saw a shallower rise to 118 million books, up 3%, and a 5% jump in value to £1.18bn. Print was still king in the Non-Fiction genre, with a 79% share. Audiobooks also scored a 7% share of Non-Fiction. Eight of the 12 Non-Fiction sub-categories grew, with home, garden and crafts and social and political issues growing particularly strongly. Travel, however, suffered.

Children's books recorded a 7% rise in volume to 109 million books and an 11% rise in value to £692m. Print claimed a 92% share of the kids' book market. All the Children's categories rose across the board, with non-fiction titles, school study and Young Adult books growing particularly well. Bohme explained that non-fiction has been a steady grower over the past five years, while school study guides benefited greatly from the nation's children home-schooling over 2020. YA was boosted by big bestsellers from Stephenie Meyer and Suzanne Collins, re-booting their successful YA franchises.

Due to the pandemic, the number of books bought online rose to 261 million in 2020, two and a half times as many books bought in person. For the first time, printed books were bought mostly online. Older consumers switched more to digital formats, whereas younger consumers switched from in-person to online print purchases.

The survey's respondents named "supporting the shop" as their number one reason to shop in an independent bookshop in 2020.