Association of American Publishers (AAP) Releases June 2021 StatShot Report: “Publishing Industry Up 0.2% For Month, And 18.1% Year to Date”

From the AAP:

Trade (Consumer Book) Revenues Down 8.0% in June, Up 17.0% Year to Date

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) today released its StatShot report for June 2021 reflecting reported revenue for all tracked categories, including Trade (Consumer Books), K-12 Instructional Materials, Higher Education Course Materials, and Professional Publishing.

Total revenues across all categories for June 2021 were essentially flat, with an increase of 0.2% as compared to June 2020, coming in at $1.2 billion. Year to date revenues were up 18.1%, at $6.3 billion for the first six months of the year.

Trade (Consumer Books) Revenues

Trade (Consumer Books) sales were down 8.0% in June, coming in at $638.5 million, but up 17.0% year to date, with $4.1 billion in revenue.

In terms of physical paper format revenues during the month of June, in the Trade (Consumer Books) category, Hardback revenues were down 10.2%, coming in at $203.1 million; Paperbacks were down 8.3%, with $225.2 million in revenue; Mass Market was down 26.0% to $18.2 million; and Board Books were up 13.3%, with $14.3 million in revenue.

eBook revenues were down 19.9% for the month as compared to June of 2020 for a total of $87.7 million. The Downloaded Audio format was up 18.5% for June, coming in at $64.8 million in revenue. Physical Audio was down 7.9% coming in at $1.7 million.

Year to date, Hardback revenues were up 25.3%, coming in at $1.5 billion; Paperbacks were up 16.4%, with $1.4 billion in revenue; Mass Market was up 8.0% to $117.4 million; and Board Books were up 10.2%, with $80.3 million in revenue.

eBook revenues were down 0.3% as compared to the first six months of 2020 for a total of $542.8 million. The Downloaded Audio format was up 18.4%, coming in at $378.5 million in revenue. Physical Audio was up 8.0% coming in at $10.7 million.

Religious Presses

Religious press revenues were down 8.9% in June, coming in at $43.7 million.

On a year-to date basis, religious press revenues were up 10.7%, at $333.3 million.

Education

During June of 2021 Education revenues were $534.1 million, up 13.3% compared with June of 2020. Year to date education revenues were $2.0 billion, up 22.3% as compared to the first six months of 2020.

Revenues from Higher Education Course Materials were up 0.9% for the month, as compared to June of 2020, coming in at $203.0 million. Year to date Higher Education was up 15.1%, at $1.2 billion.

PreK-12 Instructional Materials revenues were up 22.6% for June 2021, at $331.1 million. Year to date PreK-12 revenues were up 35.2%, coming in at $774.0 million. More in-depth information on PreK-12 Books and Materials Monthly is included in AAP’s PreK-12 monthly report.

The performance of the Education categories during this month may reflect multiple factors, including rebounding business post-COVID. In addition, the percentage increase between June 2020 and June 2021 reflects the fact that school districts delayed purchases until later in the year during the pandemic.

Professional Books

Professional Books, including business, medical, law, technical and scientific, were down 9.3% during the month, coming in at $30.3 million. Year to date Professional Books revenues were $186.7 million, up 5.8% as compared to the first six months of 2020.

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