Two Sides: Changing tides in the book industry

After several challenging years, the Swedish book market is finally seeing a long-awaited recovery. According to the latest industry report for 2025, physical books are driving the most surprising growth, while digital formats are losing momentum in comparison. This is reported by Two Sides.

The annual statistics were recently presented jointly by the Swedish Publishers Association and the Swedish Booksellers Association. The report confirms that the industry has finally managed to offset the negative effects of the pandemic years. While price increases in 2024 laid the groundwork, it was not until 2025 that growth truly accelerated, now outperforming inflation.

Physical Sales Surging

The most remarkable detail in the report is that printed books are growing at a faster rate than digital services. This is described as a historic shift after years of digital dominance. The development is particularly strong for physical bookstores, which saw a 7.3% increase in turnover over the past year.

The analysis also shows that growth is no longer driven solely by individual bestsellers. In fact, the dominance of top-tier titles has gradually declined since 2018. Instead, a broader base of titles is reaching readers.

School Investments Provide a Boost

A key driver behind these positive figures is the government literacy grant for schools introduced in 2024. This has led to large-scale purchases of printed literature for classrooms across the country, providing publishers with a significant boost in the statistics.

At the same time, the report underscores that the upswing in traditional bookstores—which are not covered by the school grants—proves there is a genuine and growing demand for printed books among the general public.