In the first half of 2021, book sales took off 18.9%, compared to the same period in 2020. Despite lockdowns, with book shops being closed, the volume of book sales increased during the pandemic. This trend in higher book sales during the pandemic was seen globally; 200million print books were sold in the UK in 2021, which was the highest amount in over a decade, according to The Guardian.  In a piece called Coronavirus escapism: book sales surge during lockdown, author Emma Charlton states, “Book sales are a bright spot for retailers, as people in lockdown around the world pile into novels and educational titles to help them get through isolation, sales figures suggest.”

However, in the first half of 2022, unit sales of print books have already dropped 6.6%, from 2021 levels, according to NPD BookScan. Almost all of the major genre categories saw a decline of sales; Adult Nonfiction, Adult Fiction, Juvenile Nonfiction, Juvenile Fiction, Young Adult Nonfiction and Young Adult Fiction.

*Please note a typing error in the chart, Adult Fiction should be -4.6%.

All subcategories in Juvenile literature saw a sales decline compared to the first half of 2021, with the largest drop (9.8%) in the Juvenile Nonfiction subcategory. The most notable drop in sales was in the in social situations/family/health, where sales fell by 23%. The Adult Nonfiction sales drop was in categories such as autobiography/biography/memoir general nonfiction, where sales fell 10.3%.

Interesting, the only Adult Nonfiction subcategory that has had a sales increase over the first half of 2022 was travel, which is up 14.3%.

Why the drop in book sales?

With the world opening back up, people are understandably setting down their books, turning off their screens, and heading out to explore, travel, and be more social. Many of us are flocking to festivals, parties, and gathering with friends to share a meal and an evening out. Essentially, a lot of folks are jumping at the opportunity to participate in activities they haven’t been able to do for the past two years. As such, it’s not really a huge surprise that books sales have dropped back to pre-pandemic levels.

Kristen McLean, an executive director and industry analyst for NPD/BookScan Books Group, shared in a January 26 2022 webinar “the back-to-back large sales gains in 2020 and 2021 were unprecedented in BookScan’s 18-year history and were fueled by unique circumstances related to the pandemic”, as reported by Publishers Weekly on Jan 28 2022 in an article titled Book sales likely to fall in 2022.

The smallest drop in sales so far in 2022 is in the genre of Adult Fiction, with only a slight loss of -4.6%. After all, people still need a juicy summer thriller or jaunty romance novel to read while lying pool side, or while waiting for their flight… huh, on that note, it’s probably a good idea to have a few different books loaded to your eReader before traveling, as you never know how long things may take these days.

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