A $74.5 billion business shared among countries with less than half the world population.

Compiled by PW Librarian Gary Ink from Euromonitor and Subtext statistics, with population & literacy rates from World and Information Please Almanacs. All figures are as of 1996 (1997 figures are not published yet, except for US); all book sales figures are given in US$.

Total world population:
Combined literacy rate:
Total dollar sales for the top 20:
Population in the top 20 countries:
5,789,662,862
82%
$74,575,000,000
2,494,000,000
(less than half)


World's Top 20 Book Markets
  1. U.S.
    1996 book sales :
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  2. Germany
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  3. Japan
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  4. UK
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  5. France
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  6. Spain
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  7. South Korea
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  8. Brazil
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  9. Italy
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  10. China
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  11. Canada
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  12. Australia
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  13. Netherlands
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  14. Belgium
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  15. Mexico
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  16. Switzerland
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  17. Austria
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  18. Russia
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  19. Taiwan
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:

  20. Argentina
    1996 book sales:
    Population:
    Literacy rate:


$26,127,000,000
266,476,278
97.9%

$9,773,000,000
83,536,115
98%


$9,126,000,000
125,449,703
99%


$4,772,000,000
58,489,975
99%


$3,306,000,000
58,317,450
99%


$2,981,000,000
38,853,397
97%


$2,742,000,000
45,482,291
96%


$2,678,000,000
162,661,214
81%


$2,500,000,000
57,460,274
97%


$1,867,000,000
1,210,004,956
78%


$1,296,000,000
28,820,671
99%


$1,243,000,000
18,260,863
100%


$1,155,000,000
15,531,940
95%


$1,083,000,000
10,098,264
99%


$820,000,000
95,772,462
88%


$786,000,000
7,124,745
99%


$726,000,000
8,013,614
98%


$678,000,000
148,190,419
100%


$664,000,000
21,465,881
93.4%


$640,000,000
34,672,997
95%