NielsenIQ Brazil reports encouraging market growth, colouring book trend
Books+Publishing’s Andrew Wrathall attended last month’s International ISBN Agency annual general meeting (AGM) in São Paulo, Brazil, as an Australian ISBN Agency representative. Here he reports on NielsenIQ’s presentation of its latest figures on the Brazilian book market.
“Brazil has the second-highest growth rate among the territories we measure globally,” says NielsenIQ Brazil’s research director Luiz Carlos Conde Gaspar. “This is largely driven by the popularity of colouring books, along with a rise in adult fiction and YA titles.”
Gaspar and his NielsenIQ Brazil colleague Mariana Bueno presented findings from the company’s two measures of book industry growth at the International ISBN Agency AGM.
The first of NielsenIQ’s tools is an annual survey of production and sales (or “sell-in”) figures developed in conjunction with the Brazilian Book Chamber (CBR) and the National Union of Book Publishers. The second is the more granular BookScan (“sell-out”) results, tracking weekly sales of all ISBNs sold in the market, which is restricted to supermarket and bookshop sales.
The sell-in figures show total print book sales in the Brazilian book market amounted to BR$6.6 billion ($A1.8b) in 2024, a 6.8% increase on 2023. Part of that revenue comes from the government buying large volumes of books through Brazil’s National Textbook Program and National School Library Program. Revenue for 2024 included BR$2.4 billion ($A673m) in government sales and BR$4.1 billion ($A1.1b) in sales to the general book market, underlining the government’s importance to the industry.
Without government sales, digital sales totalled BR$412 million ($A115m) and comprised 9% of publisher revenue. The digital revenue is an increase of 21.6% on the previous year. Combined print and digital sales were BR$4.6 billion ($A1.3b) in 2024, an increase of 5% (or 0.2% in real terms). Gaspar noted that digital growth has been steady since 2016, meaning publishers can’t survive on digital alone, but nor can they afford to ignore it.
The BookScan (sell-out) results for the year up to 13 July 2025 show a growth rate of 7.4% in volume and 8.4% in value. Brazilians bought around 36 million books, generating R$1.88 billion (A$530 million). The average book price was R$51.75 (A$14.72).
A large share of growth came from a surge in colouring book sales. The bestselling colouring book title has been Do dia para a Noite (Day to Night, Bobbie Goods, HarperCollins), which sold 554,748 copies (2025 year to date) according to BookScan results. The sales can be seen in the growth of the nonfiction trade category, which recorded a lift in share from 29.2% in YTD 2024 to 31.4% YTD 2025.
The colouring book trend represents a return of the global phenomenon that has also affected the Australian market. Gaspar said, “In 2015 we had this phenomenon happening in Brazil, but it was slightly different, with the Secret Garden [by Johanna Basford]. This title made big sales but the time, but this new phenomenon might be bigger, because 10 years ago, it sold 2 million copies. Now [for new colouring book titles] it’s 2.2 million, and this information is only until August.”
Excluding colouring books, overall growth drops from 7% in volume to just 2.4% volume in BookScan results. Children’s and fiction titles were the main drivers, according to Gasper.
The top five bestselling books, excluding colouring books, were: Café com Deus Pai (Coffee with God the Father, Rostirola Júnior, Velos) with 239,000 copies sold; Verity (Colleen Hoover, Gelera) with 95,000 copies; A Psicologia Financeira (The Psychology of Money, Morgan Housel, trans by Clapp Roberta, Harper Business) with 85,000 copies; Elo Monsters (Enaldinho, Pizel), with 85,000 copies; and Hábitos Atómicos (Atomic Habits, James Clear, trans by Gabriela Moya, Diana Editorial) with 75,000 copies sold.
Charted over a one-year period, BookScan sales reveal various peak selling periods. Two smaller peaks occur around January for the back-to-school period, then higher peaks occur for Consumer Day in mid-March, Mother’s Day/Book Friday in May, and Prime Day in mid-July, with a peak during Children’s Day on 12 October. Slightly higher sales peaks are Black Friday/Cyber Monday in late November and the lead-up to Christmas.
A survey of consumer data led by CBL and carried out by NielsenIQ revealed that only 16% of Brazilians over 18 years old had bought at least one book in the past year, which is around 25 million people. Women make up the majority of buyers, especially from middle-class households (61%), with 85% of book purchases coming from women in socioeconomic Class B and C (the classes are defined by the survey respondent’s annual income).
Most buyers (46%) are aged between 25 and 44, and concentrated in the country’s northeast (15%), south (14%) and southeast (14%). Heavy buyers, those purchasing 10 or more books a year, are also mostly women (62%).
The study highlighted suppressed demand in the wider market. Many non-buyers cited lack of time or high prices as reasons for not purchasing books, though children’s and entertainment titles are generally not seen as expensive. Textbooks and professional development books, however, are widely considered costly. Online retailers remain the preferred channel for their convenience and discounts, but physical bookshops continue to appeal to readers who want to browse and buy immediately.
Brazil’s population reached more than 212 million in July 2024, almost 10 times more than Australia’s. With a total land area of approximately 8.5 million square kilometres, Brazil is slightly larger than Australia’s roughly 7.7 million square kilometres.
Pictured: Luiz Carlos Conde Gaspar and Mariana Bueno present findings at the International ISBN Agency AGM.
Tags: Brazil
Category: Features
