Year-to-date book sales up 17% on 2020

3:21 PM, 19 November 2021

According to Nielsen Book, the leading provider of search, commerce, consumer research and retail sales analysis services for the book industry, “Since bookstores re-opened in Auckland and Waikato for in-store trading during the week ending 13 November, New Zealanders have spent over $3.5m on print books, up 4% in value on the same week in 2020. Consistently increased book buying since the start of the year has meant that year-to-date consumer book sales are showing a 17% value uplift on 2020.

“It appears that New Zealanders are turning to books as a source of entertainment and comfort in these pandemic times, with Adult Fiction in particular leading the category growth, up 21% in value year-to-date. Adult Fiction is at its highest level in 5-years of sales tracking at just over $27m to-date, more than $5m higher than the same time last year.” said Nevena Nikolic, Territory Manager of Nielsen Book New Zealand.

The top 5 fiction titles bought this week ending 13 November by volume rank: Better Off Dead:Jack Reacher 26 by Lee & Andrew Child (Penguin Random House), The Judge’s List by John Grisham (Hachette), Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (Pan Macmillan), Mercy by David Baldacci (Pan Macmillan) and Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (HarperCollins). The top selling New-Zealand-published title this same week was To Italy, With Love by Nicky Pellegrino (Hachette Aotearoa).

Source: Nielsen BookScan data, 2021 YTD (to week ending 13-Nov-21) vs 2020 YTD (to week ending 14-Nov-20) from our participating panel of more than 350 retailers nationwide and online.

About Nielsen Book

Nielsen Book is a leading provider of search, discovery, commerce, consumer research and retail sales analysis services globally. BookScan is the world’s largest continuous sales analysis service and operates in 11 countries and 4 continents. Retail sales information is collected at the point of sale from thousands of outlets in the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, India, Mexico, Brazil and Poland. Publishers, booksellers and libraries can use the information to assist strategic, acquisition and purchasing decisions. The company is wholly owned by NielsenIQ, see more below. For more information, please visit: www.nielsenbook.co.nz.