31% of U.S. adults read an e-book in the past year, nearly double the 17% who did in 2011 (Pew Research Center, 2026). Yet print still leads by a wide margin at 64%, and the global e-book market is worth a projected $15.65 billion in 2026 (Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026). Libraries lent a record 379.4 million e-books through Libby and Sora in 2025 (OverDrive, 2025 Digital Lending Records), while self-published titles with ISBNs surged 38.7% to 3.5 million (Bowker, via Publishers Weekly 2026). This analysis consolidates data from Pew Research Center, the Association of American Publishers, OverDrive, the UK Publishers Association, Circana BookScan, Statista, Bowker, and 4 other primary sources to map where digital reading actually stands.
TL;DR
- 31% of U.S. adults read an e-book in the past year and 64% read print, versus 17% and 72% in 2011 (Pew Research Center, 2026).
- The global e-book market is projected at $15.65 billion in 2026, rising to $17.67 billion by 2031 (Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026).
- U.S. e-book revenue reached $2.1 billion in 2024, up 1.5%, while digital audio hit $2.4 billion (AAP StatShot Annual 2024).
- Libraries lent 379.4 million e-books via Libby and Sora in 2025, part of 820.5 million total digital checkouts (OverDrive, 2025).
- Self-published titles with ISBNs jumped 38.7% to more than 3.5 million in 2025 (Bowker, via Publishers Weekly 2026).
- UK e-book revenue rose 17% to GBP 268 million in 2024 (UK Publishers Association, 2024).
- U.S. print unit sales hit 762.4 million in 2025, up 0.3% over 2024 (Circana BookScan, via Publishers Weekly 2026).
- Everand reports more than 1 million monthly subscribers across 100 countries (Everand, via Publishers Weekly 2025).
- Amazon holds an estimated 67% of the U.S. e-book market, rising to about 83% including Kindle Unlimited (WordsRated, 2025).
- Romance print sales rose 3.9% to nearly 44 million units in 2025, while fantasy fell 8.7% (Circana BookScan, via Publishers Weekly 2026).
1. Global E-Book Market Size and Revenue
The headline market number depends entirely on who is counting. Statista’s consumer forecast pegs the global e-book market at $15.65 billion in 2026, but its 2.46% projected CAGR through 2031 signals a mature, slow-growth category rather than the explosive digital land grab of the early 2010s. The United Kingdom offers a cleaner publisher-reported view: e-book revenue there grew a brisk 17% in 2024, one of the faster digital gains among established markets.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global e-book market revenue (2026) | $15.65 billion | Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026 |
| Global e-book market revenue (2031 forecast) | $17.67 billion | Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026 |
| Revenue CAGR (2026-2031) | 2.46% | Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026 |
| U.S. e-book segment revenue (2026, largest market) | $5.51 billion | Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026 |
| Average revenue per user (2026) | $12.09 | Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026 |
| Global user penetration (2026) | 16.43% | Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026 |
| UK e-book revenue (2024) | GBP 268 million (+17%) | UK Publishers Association, 2024 |
| UK consumer digital revenue (2024) | GBP 566 million (+17%) | UK Publishers Association, 2024 |
Divergence to flag: Statista’s $5.51 billion U.S. consumer estimate sits far above the AAP’s $2.1 billion trade e-book figure in Section 3 because Statista models a broader consumer-spending scope while the AAP measures publisher net revenue. Statista also projects the global reader base reaching 1.56 billion by 2031.
2. Who Reads E-Books: Format Share and Demographics
Print’s dominance is real but eroding. The Pew Research Center’s October 2025 survey of 8,046 adults shows print reading has slipped from 72% to 64% since 2011 even as e-books climbed to 31%. The steepest skew is generational: 41% of adults under 30 read an e-book in the past year, and e-book uptake tracks closely with education and income, reinforcing that digital reading remains an add-on habit for heavy readers rather than a print replacement.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. adults who read any book (past year) | 75% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Read a print book (past year) | 64% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Read an e-book (past year) | 31% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Listened to an audiobook (past year) | 26% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| E-book readers among adults under 30 | 41% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| E-book readers among Asian Americans (highest) | 42% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| College graduates who read any format | 88% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| E-book reading growth, 2011 to 2025 | 17% to 31% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
Context: only 7% of U.S. adults belonged to a book club in the past year. For how younger readers blend formats and discover titles, see our Gen Z media statistics, and for the fast-growing sibling format compare our audiobook statistics.
3. U.S. Publishing Revenue by Format
Inside the AAP’s numbers, e-books are the flat line while audiobooks are the growth engine. U.S. e-book revenue rose just 1.5% to $2.1 billion in 2024, and only 2.0% across the full five years since 2020 while digital audio grew 78.1% over the same span and now out-earns e-books at $2.4 billion. E-books have effectively found their ceiling: a durable slice of a $32.5 billion industry, but no longer the format taking share.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total U.S. publishing revenue (2024) | $32.5 billion (+4.1%) | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
| E-book revenue (2024) | $2.1 billion (+1.5%) | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
| Digital audio revenue (2024) | $2.4 billion (+22.5%) | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
| Digital formats share of total revenue (2024) | 14% | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
| Print formats share of total revenue (2024) | 50.5% | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
| Hardback revenue (2024) | $7.9 billion | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
| E-book revenue, month of December 2025 | $78.7 million (-2.8%) | AAP StatShot, December 2025 |
| E-book five-year revenue growth (2020-2024) | +2.0% | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
Outlier: paperback revenue nearly matched hardback at $7.8 billion in 2024, and full-year 2025 industry revenue rose 1.1% to $14.6 billion year-to-date, keeping the format mix broadly stable.
4. Library Digital Lending
Libraries are the one arena where digital reading is still posting records. Readers borrowed 379.4 million e-books through Libby and Sora in 2025, the largest single format inside 820.5 million total digital checkouts, up roughly 10% overall. The pattern mirrors the retail market: audiobooks (+13%) and magazines (+31%) are growing faster than e-books (+3%), but e-books remain the volume leader by title count.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Total digital checkouts (2025) | 820.5 million (+10%) | OverDrive, 2025 Digital Lending Records |
| E-book checkouts (2025) | 379.4 million (+3%) | OverDrive, 2025 |
| Audiobook checkouts (2025) | 315.9 million (+13%) | OverDrive, 2025 |
| Magazine checkouts (2025) | 125.1 million (+31%) | OverDrive, 2025 |
| Comics checkouts (2025) | 55.7 million (+22%) | OverDrive, 2025 |
| Public library checkouts (2025) | 737.6 million (+9%) | OverDrive, 2025 |
| School checkouts (2025) | 63.4 million (+14%) | OverDrive, 2025 |
| Adult titles borrowed (2025) | 520.4 million (+7%) | OverDrive, 2025 |
Note: 18 library systems, consortia, and schools surpassed one million digital checkouts for the first time in 2025. This is the OverDrive-reported total across Libby and Sora, not an industry-wide figure.
5. Amazon, Self-Publishing, and Subscription Reading
The e-book economy is defined by one platform and a flood of independent titles. Self-published titles carrying ISBNs jumped 38.7% to more than 3.5 million in 2025, the sharpest indie output surge on record, and total U.S. book output topped 4 million titles for the first time. Amazon remains the gatekeeper, holding an estimated two-thirds of U.S. e-book sales before Kindle Unlimited is even counted.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Self-published titles with ISBNs (2025) | 3.5 million (+38.7%) | Bowker, via Publishers Weekly 2026 |
| Total U.S. book output (2025) | More than 4 million titles | Bowker, via Publishers Weekly 2026 |
| Amazon KDP self-published titles per year | ~1.4 million | WordsRated, 2025 |
| KDP annual royalties paid to authors | $520 million+ | WordsRated, 2025 |
| Amazon U.S. e-book market share (2025, est.) | ~67% (~83% with Kindle Unlimited) | WordsRated, 2025 |
| Everand monthly subscribers | More than 1 million, 100 countries | Everand, via Publishers Weekly 2025 |
| Everand premium catalog size | 1.5 million+ e-books and audiobooks | Everand, via Publishers Weekly 2025 |
Caveat: Amazon has never disclosed official market-share or Kindle Unlimited subscriber figures, so the 67% and 83% estimates are aggregator modeling and should be read as directional. For how digital storefronts move units, compare our e-commerce statistics.
6. Genres, BookTok, and Reading Behavior
Reader enthusiasm is real even as unit growth cools. Everand’s 2025 State of Reading Report found 94% of surveyed subscribers view reading as essential and 50% said they read more this year than last, citing stress relief. In the print market that appetite concentrates in genre fiction: romance keeps climbing while fantasy has cooled from its post-pandemic peak, a reminder that the BookTok wave is maturing rather than accelerating.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. print unit sales (2025) | 762.4 million (+0.3%) | Circana BookScan, via Publishers Weekly 2026 |
| U.S. print unit sales peak (2021) | 839.7 million | Circana BookScan, via Publishers Weekly 2026 |
| Romance print units (2025) | ~44 million (+3.9%) | Circana BookScan, via Publishers Weekly 2026 |
| Fantasy print units (2025) | 24.1 million (-8.7%) | Circana BookScan, via Publishers Weekly 2026 |
| Subscribers who read more this year (2025) | 50% | Everand, 2025 State of Reading Report |
| Subscribers who view reading as essential | 94% | Everand, 2025 State of Reading Report |
| U.S. illegal e-book downloaders (est.) | ~16.5 million | Nielsen, via StudyFinds |
Flag: the 16.5 million piracy estimate is the most recent widely cited figure but traces to an older Nielsen study, so treat it as directional rather than current. For the reading habits of the platforms driving discovery, see our manga statistics covering digital comics and webtoons.
Summary: E-Books by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global e-book market revenue (2026) | $15.65 billion | Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026 |
| U.S. e-book segment revenue (2026) | $5.51 billion | Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026 |
| U.S. e-book publisher revenue (2024) | $2.1 billion (+1.5%) | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
| U.S. digital audio revenue (2024) | $2.4 billion (+22.5%) | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
| Total U.S. publishing revenue (2024) | $32.5 billion | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
| Digital share of U.S. publishing revenue | 14% | AAP StatShot Annual, 2024 |
| U.S. adults who read an e-book (past year) | 31% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| U.S. adults who read print (past year) | 64% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| E-book readers among adults under 30 | 41% | Pew Research Center, 2026 |
| Library e-book checkouts (2025) | 379.4 million (+3%) | OverDrive, 2025 |
| Total library digital checkouts (2025) | 820.5 million (+10%) | OverDrive, 2025 |
| Self-published ISBN titles (2025) | 3.5 million (+38.7%) | Bowker, via Publishers Weekly 2026 |
| Amazon U.S. e-book share (with Kindle Unlimited) | ~83% | WordsRated, 2025 |
| Everand monthly subscribers | 1 million+ | Everand, via Publishers Weekly 2025 |
| U.S. print unit sales (2025) | 762.4 million (+0.3%) | Circana BookScan, via Publishers Weekly 2026 |
| Romance print units (2025) | ~44 million (+3.9%) | Circana BookScan, via Publishers Weekly 2026 |
| UK e-book revenue (2024) | GBP 268 million (+17%) | UK Publishers Association, 2024 |
| Global e-book reader base (2031 forecast) | 1.56 billion | Statista, eBooks Worldwide 2026 |
| U.S. illegal e-book downloaders (est.) | ~16.5 million | Nielsen, via StudyFinds |
Methodology and Sources
Data was gathered by aggregating figures from primary industry reports, government-adjacent trade associations, platform disclosures, and peer-reviewed survey data published between 2024 and 2026, prioritizing the most recent full-year datasets and cross-referencing market-size estimates across multiple sources where they diverged.
Sources cited:
- Pew Research Center - Book reading survey (October 2025 fieldwork, published 2026; 8,046 U.S. adults)
- Association of American Publishers - StatShot Annual Report, Calendar Year 2024
- Association of American Publishers - StatShot December 2025 monthly report
- OverDrive - 2025 Digital Lending Records (Libby and Sora), January 2026
- UK Publishers Association - Industry Insights, 2024 results
- Statista - eBooks Worldwide Market Forecast, 2026
- Circana BookScan - 2025 print unit sales, via Publishers Weekly
- Bowker - 2025 self-publishing ISBN output, via Publishers Weekly
- Everand - 2025 State of Reading Report (1,500+ U.S. consumers) and subscriber disclosures via Publishers Weekly
- WordsRated - Amazon Kindle, e-book, and KDP estimates, 2025
- StudyFinds - Reporting on Nielsen e-book piracy research
Data watch: The AAP publishes StatShot monthly and will release its full-year 2025 Annual Report in mid-2026. Pew Research Center refreshes its book-reading survey roughly every two years. OverDrive reports annual lending records each January, and the UK Publishers Association publishes its Industry Insights in the second quarter, so 2025 UK figures are expected shortly. Bowker and Circana BookScan report annually. Statista updates its market forecast on a rolling basis.
Last updated: July 16, 2026. We review and update this page quarterly as new data is published.