Print Books Are More Popular Than E-books

According to Statista's Advertising & Media Outlook report, print book purchases still dominated over e-books in 2020. This indicates that e-book penetration has yet to rival that of print books.

Germans were estimated to have purchased the most print books last year, accounting for 58% of the total population. Only 10.4% of the German population purchased e-books throughout last year.

Similarly, 52.1% of French citizens still bought print books. Only 7.5% of French citizens spent money on e-books.

Spain ranked third, with 49.3% of its population still purchasing print books last year. Only 14.3% of the Spanish population purchased e-books.

Meanwhile, the highest e-book adoption penetration was in China. 24.4% of Chinese citizens bought e-books, while 32% of the population opted for print books.

The next highest e-book penetration was in the United States, at 22.7% of the total population. However, print book consumption remained higher, reflected in the 44.5% of US citizens who purchased print books.

These findings suggest that e-books will not replace print books. E-books are more of a complementary addition that should benefit the publishing industry.