2023 AUDIOBOOK FACT SHEET

• Publisher receipts in 2022 totaled 1.8 billion dollars, up 10% from 2021.

• 53% of consumers 18 and up have ever listened to an audiobook, up from 45% in 2022.

• Nearly 140 million Americans have tried an audiobook.

• 57% of frequent audiobook listeners are under the age of 45; higher than the 49% of the U.S. population that falls within the same age range.

• Audiobook listeners today closely match the U.S. population, with 29% of audiobook listeners identifying as either African-American or Hispanic, compared to 27% of the U.S. population, suggesting increased diversity among listeners.

• As audiobook listeners’ lives return to their pre-pandemic routines, so has their audiobook consumption. For those who listened in the last year the average number of audiobooks listened to has returned to the pre-pandemic number of 6.3 down from 6.9 in 2022.

• One area that has not receded to pre-pandemic levels is the number of parents who have children listening to audiobooks. 56% percent of audiobook listeners with children say their kids listen to audiobooks. This number, while down from the 61% measured in 2022, is still significantly higher than the 35% reported in the pre-pandemic study of 2020.

• By category, audiobooks for children had the fastest rate of growth in 2022 (+41%), but remain a small component of the total market (3%). Similarly, non-English language titles are expanding rapidly (+37%) but are still just 4% of the total market.

• Fiction (64%) has increased as a proportion of total sales for the second consecutive year. The fastest growing genres are Humor, Non-Fiction, and Romance; however, Fiction and Science Fiction/Fantasy remain the two largest genres overall.

*These statistics are based on the sales survey conducted for the APA by the independent research firm Harris Interactive and on the consumer behavior survey conducted by Edison Research – both surveys completed in Spring 2023.

For media inquiries and questions about the industry please contact APA Headquarters, press@audiopub.org