Market report: CYA growth outpaces total Australian market
On the surface, children’s book sales in 2025 have surged in Australia, compared to the previous year.
But a look at volume shows much of the increase in value comes from higher prices, with increases in volume more modest than increases in value. And drilling down into the categories shows that while YA surged (up 20% in value), children’s fiction sales were barely holding steady, while seemingly healthy CYA nonfiction sales nonetheless owe much to the rise in children’s colouring books.
Overall, sales for the children’s book category in Australia in 2025 were up 8% on the previous year, with a value of A$395.9 million according to figures from NielsenIQ BookData. This was off only a 4% increase in volume, with total volume for 2025 of 32.6 million units and an average selling price of A$12.14.
This contrasts with the overall Australian market, which was up 3.2% in value and 1.4% in volume – worth A$1.3 billion, with sales by volume at 70 million. Nielsen’s market snapshot shows the top 3 growth categories for the year in Australia were religion; children’s & YA nonfiction (which had the highest growth by volume of all CYA categories); and fiction-related items (including true stories and true crime).
In value, Children’s YA saw the most growth, up 20% in value at A$44 million in sales for the year and with an average selling price of A$19.51. This was off a volume increase of 8% to 2.3 million. The category with the second-highest growth was CYA nonfiction (helped in no small part by colouring books), which was up 17% in value to A$47.1 million off a sizeable 20% increase in volume (to 3.6 million), which brought the average selling price for the category to A$12.99.
Children’s picture books also grew more by volume than value, up 7% to A$80.3 million off an 11% increase in volume (up to 7.1 million). The category was the biggest CYA category by volume, with average selling price for the picture book category coming in at A$12.14.
Children’s fiction remained the biggest CYA category by value at A$90.7 million, but this was down (-1%) compared to 2024, and down by more (-5%) in volume, at 5.8 million. Average selling price for children’s fiction was A$15.61.
Under-16s social media ban and teen reading
Big news in Australia for anyone interested in young people’s habits has been the Australian government’s social media ban for users under 16.
Introduced in late 2025, the ban has been lauded by some, criticised by others, and – four months on – accused of failing to have a material impact on the habits of teens, with data suggesting the majority of those supposed to have been banned from age-restricted social media platforms continue to use them (with the platforms themselves being blamed).
One early outcome of the ban was discussion of its potential impact on young people’s reading habits, with an Australian bookselling chain quick to publicise a 24% uplift in foot traffic across stores on the day the ban came into effect. QBD CEO Nick Croydon said that “in the weeks following the introduction of the social media ban, families began engaging with our stores differently”, and that puzzle sales were up almost 30 per cent year on year during the Christmas period, while children’s books “grew by almost 18% compared to [the previous December]”.
Others pointed to the difficulty of the timing of the ban coinciding with a period in which sales would otherwise increase due to the Christmas selling period, but Croydon insists “this points to something deeper”.
While increased bookshop sales might point to a pivot in behaviour, another line of thinking bemoans the possible loss of social media recommendations in driving discoverability and sales of books for a demographic used to finding their next read on social media. Angela Crocombe, senior buyer for independent bookshop Readings, told the Conversation that teens have moved from platforms like BookTok and Bookstagram to Goodreads, while secondary-school librarian and bookshop owner Erin Wamala said now is the time for Australian librarians and specialist booksellers to shine. “We can spend time with young people, finding out about what they are interested in, what they like and don’t like, and help them to find the perfect book […] We can also create spaces for them to socialise with like-minded readers.”
Fostering new generations of readers (as well as re-engaging existing lapsed readers) is certainly a focus for the newly minted not-for-profit organisation Australia Reads, which this month released a report on reaching Australian readers. So whether competing with or harnessing social media, fostering new readers and retaining those teens who already love to read is squarely in the sights of the local industry.
Category: Think Australian feature
