Considering ebooks accounted for 18% of all books sold in the first half of 2021, we wanted to understand better how the ebook industry has grown over time, its role in the book industry, and overall ebooks sales figures.
Number of ebooks sold per year
- 191 million ebooks were sold in 2020, up 12.35% from 2019.
- The number of ebooks sold is down 21.07% from its peak in 2013.
- The number of ebooks sold in the first half of 2021 is down 8% from the first half of 2020 but still 8% higher than they were prior to the pandemic in 2019.
- The last decade saw the number of ebooks sold per year nearly triple, from 69 million in 2010 to 191 in 2020.
- Adult fiction accounts for 41% of all ebook sales in 2021.
| Year | Number of ebooks sold in millions |
| 2020 | 191 |
| 2019 | 170 |
| 2018 | 168 |
| 2017 | 173 |
| 2016 | 181 |
| 2015 | 204 |
| 2014 | 234 |
| 2013 | 242 |
| 2012 | 215 |
| 2011 | 165 |
| 2010 | 69 |
Based on 191 million ebooks being sold per year in 2020, it’s estimated that:
- 15.92 million ebooks were sold per month
- 3.67 million ebooks were sold per week
- 524.72 thousand ebooks were sold per day
- 21.86 thousand ebooks were sold per hour
- 364.38 ebooks sold per minute
Ebook sales revenue per year
- Revenue from ebook sales reached $1.95 billion dollars in 2022, down 8.5% compared to 2021.
- The revenue from ebooks in the US is now below the pre-pandemic levels and continues to decline after the pandemic was responsible for pushing ebook sales revenue up in 2020.
- For the first time over the past 5 years, the revenue from ebooks is below $2 billion for a calendar year.
- Overall, since 2018, the revenue from ebooks has been down 7.67%.
| Year | Ebook sales revenue ($ million) | Change |
| 2022 | $1.95 | -8.50% |
| 2021 | $2.13 | -5.00% |
| 2020 | $2.24 | 11.72% |
| 2019 | $2.01 | -4.92% |
| 2018 | $2.11 | |
| Last 5 years | -7.67% |
- Revenue from ebooks accounts for 6.94% of the total publishing industry’s revenue in the United States as of 2022.
- This is a drop from 7.27% share in 2021 and an even bigger drop from 8.59% in 2020.
- For the first time over the last 5 years, ebooks account for less than 7% of the publishing revenue for the calendar year.
- During this period, the share of ebooks in publishing revenue has dropped by 16.51%.
| Year | Ebook sales revenue ($ million) | Change | Total publishing revenue ($ billion) | Share of ebook revenue in publishing |
| 2022 | $1.95 | -8.50% | $28.10 | 6.94% |
| 2021 | $2.13 | -5.00% | $29.33 | 7.27% |
| 2020 | $2.24 | 11.72% | $26.11 | 8.59% |
| 2019 | $2.01 | -4.92% | $26.04 | 7.71% |
| 2018 | $2.11 | $25.41 | 8.31% | |
| Last 5 years | -7.67% | -16.51% |
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E-publishing revenue
- In 2017, over 65% of all e-publishing income was attributed to e-books. In 2023, this share is projected to drop to 56%.
- This means that the share of e-books in total e-publishing revenue will decline by 15% over the 6-year period.
- As for other e-publishing formats, e-papers are expected to grow to 27.24% of total e-publishing revenue, increasing their share by 25% since 2017.
- By 2927, e-books are projected to account for only 54% of all e-publishing, while e-papers and em-magazines will rise to 28.4% and 17%, respectively.
| Year | e-book revenue share | e-paper revenue share | e-magazine revenue share |
| 2017 | 65.94% | 21.81% | 12.26% |
| 2018 | 64.69% | 22.47% | 12.84% |
| 2019 | 62.89% | 23.45% | 13.65% |
| 2020 | 61.21% | 24.27% | 14.52% |
| 2021 | 52.94% | 23.14% | 23.92% |
| 2022 | 57.19% | 26.56% | 16.25% |
| 2023* | 56.09% | 27.24% | 16.67% |
| 2027* | 54.52% | 28.41% | 17.07% |
