Information Industry News and Resources from Gary Price

Business and economic print book sales in the U.S. continue to rise, reaching a 10-year high in the year ending April 23, 2022. The second-largest adult non-fiction subject in the U.S. after religion, business and economics book sales account for one quarter of overall adult non-fiction unit volume, according to The NPD Group.

U.S. print book unit sales in the business category rose 10%, for the year ending April 23, 2022, compared to the previous year. The category has also grown at a 4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past 10 years. The business print books category is large and complex, with more than 100 subjects and over 200 sub-category subjects included in the “business and economics” BISAC-1 category.

“Business sub-categories with the most growth mirrored current business trends,” said Kristen McLean, books industry analyst for NPD. Focus areas include the surge in entrepreneurship, the revamping of human resources and organizational behavior, and the focus on expanding skillsets both personally and professionally.”

Subjects focused on personal finance and investment, an area that grew in the second half of 2020 and early 2021, suffered the greatest year-over-year sales declines. However, even as books related to personal finance and investments declined compared to the high watermark of 2021, they are still showing continued strength compared to pre-pandemic levels. In fact, when comparing against 2019, unit sales for the finance and investment subject so far in 2022 increased 27%. Books that are focused on financial independence and financial literacy are the key themes among bestselling titles in these subjects.

“During first years of the pandemic, when stay-at-home orders were in force, many households sought advice to help navigate their personal financial realities,” McLean said. “Many book buyers also had more discretionary money to invest, thanks to the pause in travel and other experiences, along with extra cash from government stimulus payments and loan pauses. As the population heads back to the office, the pendulum is swinging back in the other direction, and we are back to more traditional areas of interest in business and economics.”

Gary Price (gprice@mediasourceinc.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. Before launching INFOdocket, Price and Shirl Kennedy were the founders and senior editors at ResourceShelf and DocuTicker for 10 years. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com, and is currently a contributing editor at Search Engine Land.

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