German book market down in 2025 but young people offer ‘glimmer of hope’ 

Across the German book market, in 2025 sales were down 2.9% compared to 2024 across the main distribution channels – bookstores, e-commerce including Amazon, railway station bookstores, department stores, electronics and drugstores – according to preliminary data published by the trade association Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (the German Book Trade Association). 

Sales are, however, 1.6% higher than in 2022, the first year after the Covid-19 pandemic. Sales in brick-and-mortar bookstores alone were 3% lower in 2025 than in the previous year, a 1% increase on 2022.

Despite declining overall sales, fiction sales grew by 1.3% compared to 2024, and by 14.9% compared to 2022, according to the data. Children’s and young adult books closed the year with a slight sales decrease of 2.5%, while non-fiction books saw a decline of 4.7%.

Three months – January (+6%), April (+8.3%) and September (+3.7%) – reported growth year-on-year, with April reporting a year-on-year decrease of 14.7%. December was also down: following a disappointing November (-8.3%), sales in December lagged 2.7% year-on-year with the number of books sold down 4.9%. Again, fiction fared best with growth of 2.4% while non-fiction – which in December 2024 was the star performer with growth of 18.9% thanks to Angela Merkel’s bestselling memoirs – plummeted 13.9% in the absence of another notable bestseller.

Sebastian Guggolz, chairman of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, said: “The book market is currently facing the same challenges as the entire retail sector: given the continued poor consumer climate, the results for 2025 are mixed. High-cost pressures and immense bureaucratic burdens are presenting additional hurdles for retailers, publishers and industry logistics.”

He continued: “The continued enthusiasm for books among young people offers a glimmer of hope: interest, particularly in new adult titles, and thus sales of fiction, continue to grow. The book industry is therefore entering the new year with many challenges, but also with optimism and confidence.”

According to Media Control, the bestselling hardcover book of 2025 was Der Nachbar (The Neighbour) by Sebastian Fitzek, followed by Asterix 41 by Fabcaro (Fabrice Caro) and Didier Conrad in second place and The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown in third.

The published data for the distribution channels of traditional bookstores, e-commerce including Amazon, railway station bookstores, department stores, and electronics and drugstores “provide an initial indication of the development of the book market in 2025”, but complete book-market figures, encompassing all other distribution channels (direct sales from publishers, mail-order bookstores, other sales outlets, book clubs) as well as invoicing, will be released in summer 2026.