Book Sales Dipped 1.8% in 2009; eBook Sales Rose 176%

In its annual report on total book sales, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) estimated that U.S. publishers produced net sales of $23.9 billion last year–a 1.8 percent decrease from the $24.3 billion in 2008 sales.

In addition, eBooks accounted $313 million in sales in 2009, up 176.6 percent and surpassing audiobooks in total sales. The report also noted that the publishing industry has managed a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.1 percent over the last seven years. The statistics were tabulated from Bureau of the Census data and sales figures 86 publishers.

Here’s more from the report: “Trade sales of adult and juvenile books were steady at $8.1 billion in 2009, CAGR fell to 1.8 percent. Adult Hardbound books showed healthy growth of 6.9 percent, $2.6 billion in 2009, however paperbound books for adult fell 5.2 percent to $2.2 billion. Hardbound books in the children and young adult category fell 5.0 percent to $1.7 billion while their paperbound equivalent grew 2.2 percent to $1.5 billion.”

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