- The global nonfiction book market is projected at $14.02 billion as of 2022, which is a 5.7% growth compared to $13.27 billion in 2021.
- By 2026, the global nonfiction book market is projected to reach $16.61 billion.
- Total U.S nonfiction sales revenue reached $7.34 billion as of 2021, a 1.52% increase over 2020 of $7.23 billion.
- The US nonfiction book market generates over 55.3% of global nonfiction book revenue.
- US adult nonfiction sales reached $6.40 billion, while YA and juvenile fiction generate over $.0.94 billion per year.
- Adult nonfiction generates the most revenue and the most unit sales in the US book market.
- As of 2022, over 360.11 million nonfiction print books are sold in the US.
- This is a 10.4% drop over the 401.94 million print units sold in 2021.
- As of 2022, nonfiction print books account for 45.5% of book sales in the US, trailing fiction books for the second year in a row.
- 2020 has been the best-performing year for adult nonfiction ebooks since 2017, selling 29 million units in the U.S.
- As of 2020, one in five books sold for the adult nonfiction segment were audiobooks.
Nonfiction books sales in the US
Nonfiction print unit sales in the US
- 360.1 million nonfiction print books were sold in 2022.
- This was a 10.1% decrease over the 401.9 million reached in 2021.
- 289.34 million nonfiction adult print books were sold in 2022.
- This is the biggest nonfiction category, accounting for over 80% of total nonfiction sales.
- Nonfiction book sales account for 45.5% of total print book sales as of 2022.
- 70.8 million nonfiction children’s/ya books were sold in 2021.
- This segment totals 19.65% of nonfiction unit sales.
| Category | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| Adult nonfiction | 295.08 | 309.39 | 322.56 | 289.34 |
| Juvenile nonfiction | 62.16 | 77.87 | 75.06 | 66.65328 |
| Young adult nonfiction | 2.71 | 3.99 | 4.32 | 4.12 |
| Total nonfiction print units sold | 359.95 | 391.24 | 401.94 | 360.11 |
A graphical representation of nonfiction print unit sales by age group for the U.S. is given below:
Nonfiction digital unit sales in the US
Nonfiction e-book sales
- For the given period, 2020 was the best-performing year for adult nonfiction ebooks, selling 36 million units in the U.S.
- For this category, sales grew steadily until dropping to 29 million units sold in 2021.
- In total, adult nonfiction ebook units increased by 11.54% over the given period.
| Year | Adult nonfiction ebook units sold (million) | Change |
| 2021 | 29 | – 19.44% |
| 2020 | 36 | + 28.57% |
| 2019 | 28 | – |
| 2018 | 28 | + 7.69% |
| 2017 | 26 |
Nonfiction audiobook sales
- In 2020, audiobooks were most popular within the adult non-fiction category.
- The audiobook format represented one in five books sold for this segment.
- In 2018, nonfiction audiobook sales made up 32.7% of total U.S. audiobook sales.
- This was an increase of 29.4% when compared to the previous year.
Nonfiction sales revenue in the US
Adult nonfiction sales revenue – U.S.
- Adult nonfiction sales revenue stands at $6.40 billion as of 2021.
- This is a YoY increase of 2.24%.
- 2021 was also the best-performing year for the adult segment over the three-year period.
- In total, adult nonfiction sales revenue has grown 12.87% since 2019.
| Year | Adult nonfiction ($ billion) | Change |
| 2021 | $6.40 | +2.24% |
| 2020 | $6.26 | +4.51% |
| 2019 | $5.99 | -0.66% |
| 2018 | $6.03 |
Children’s/ya nonfiction sales revenue – U.S.
- Children’s/ya nonfiction sales revenue reached $0.94 billion as of 2021.
- This was a YoY change of -3.09%.
- In total, children’s/ya nonfiction has grown 5.62% since 2019.
- 2020 was also the best performing year for the children’s/ya segment over the period at $0.97 billion.
| Year | Children’s/ya nonfiction ($ billion) | Change |
| 2021 | $0.94 | – 3.09% |
| 2020 | $0.97 | +22.78% |
| 2019 | $0.79 | +6.76% |
| 2018 | $0.74 |
A graphical representation of nonfiction revenue by age group for the U.S. is given below:
Nonfiction book sales by category
Memoirs and autobiography sales
A full breakdown of memoirs and autobiography book sales is available on this page.
- As of 2021, Memoirs and biographies for young adults grew 26% over the previous 5 years.
- Memoirs and Biographies is the #1 best-selling hard copy book, non-fiction book category on Amazon.
- For e-books, memoirs and biographies come in second behind religion and spirituality.
Self-help book sales
More on self-help book sales figures are available in our in-depth report.
- According to NPD Group, The self-help industry has exploded in recent years: by 11% from 2013 to 2019, with U.S. sales of self-help books growing annually up to 18.6 million volumes.
- Self-help title numbers nearly tripled during the same period, from 30,897 to 85,253.
- This industry was worth $10.5 billion as of 2020.
Business book sales
A complete breakdown of business book sales statistics is on this page.
- Approximately 80.64 million business and economics category print books were sold in 2021.
- This represents 25% of adult non-fiction print sales which were over 322.56 million in total.
- 2021 showed a 10% rise from over 73.31 million for the business and economics category when compared to the previous FY.
Cookbook sales
- As of October 2021, year-to-date sales of baking cookbooks were higher than the previous year by 42%.
- Baking book sales showed a strong YoY growth trend over the 10 previous years.
- Benefitting from “The Great British Bake Off,” Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood titles were among the category’s top three best-sellers as of November 2021.
Bestselling nonfiction books of all time
In terms of the all time best-sellers list, nonfiction books are known to sell less copies than works of fiction, although some nonfiction titles have still managed to achieve huge sales numbers.
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, published in 1937, is the best selling nonfiction book of all time, selling over 70 million copies.
- 3 other nonfiction titles sold over 50 million copies, and additional 4 titles sold over 40 million copies.
- A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard is the oldest nonfiction book on the best-selling list, published in the 19th century in 1899.
| # | Title | Author | Year | Pages | Copies sold* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Think and Grow Rich | Napoleon Hill | 1937 | 238 | 70 million |
| 2 | You Can Heal Your Life | Louise Hay | 1984 | 224 | 50 million |
| 3 | The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care | Benjamin Spock | 1946 | 527 | 50 million |
| 4 | The Hite Report | Shere Hite | 1976 | 638 | 50 million |
| 5 | Rich Dad Poor Dad | Robert T. Kiyosaki | 2000 | 336 | 44 million |
| 6 | Cosmos | Carl Sagan | 1980 | 384 | 40 million |
| 7 | The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People | Stephen Covey | 1989 | 381 | 40 million |
| 8 | A Message to Garcia | Elbert Hubbard | 1899 | 42 | 40 million |
| 9 | The Diary of a Young Girl | Anne Frank | 1947 | 350 | 35 million |
| 10 | Your Erroneous Zones | Wayne Dyer | 1976 | 256 | 35 million |
Nonfiction book sales FAQ
What are nonfiction books?
- Nonfiction books attempt to provide information based on facts, research, and objective expertise rather than by using the author’s creative imagination.
What are the most popular nonfiction genres?
- The most popular nonfiction genres are memoir, self-help, narrative, religion/spirituality, cultural/social issues, and biographies.
How is the nonfiction book market segmented?
- The global nonfiction books market is segmented by type, category, and distribution channel.
- The type includes ebooks, printed books, and audiobooks.
- The category includes religion, travel, biography, history/law/political science, business/economics, cooking/entertainment, computers, crafts/antiques/hobbies/games, performing arts, and others.
- Distribution channel includes online sales, bookstores, and direct sales.