The average price of new books published in Korea last year approached 20,000 won, according to industry data released this week.
According to the "2025 Korean Publishing Production Statistics" released by the Korean Publishers Association (KPA) on the 31st of last month, the average price of new books last year was 19,897 won, up about 1.9% from 19,526 won the previous year. New book prices have been rising every year since 2020, when the average stood at 16,420 won.
The study reference category showed a particularly sharp increase, with average list prices rising 54.8% from a year earlier. By category, the average prices were: technology and science (27,346 won), social science (25,732 won), natural science (24,796 won), study reference (24,424 won), history (24,382 won), arts (24,286 won), general works (24,103 won), philosophy (21,981 won), language (20,520 won), religion (19,699 won), literature (15,784 won), children's books (14,503 won), and comics (7,098 won).
The number of domestic publishers reached 85,689, a slight increase from 81,161 the previous year. New book titles published totaled 64,991, with a total print run of 73,028,500 copies. Books translated into Korean numbered 9,663 titles, down 5.8% from a year earlier.
The statistics, compiled and analyzed based on books deposited with the KPA by 5,766 publishers last year, will be included in the "Korea Publishing Yearbook" issued by the association. The full report is available on the KPA website.
Adult Reading Volume Falls to Just 2.4 Books Last Year
Meanwhile, more than six out of 10 Korean adults did not read a single book over the past year, a separate survey found. According to the "2025 National Reading Survey" released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the annual comprehensive reading rate among adults — defined as the share of adults who read or listened to at least one general book — was 38.5% during the survey period from September 2024 to August 2025. The figure is down 4.5 percentage points from 43.0% in 2023 and marks the lowest level since the biennial reading survey began in 1994.
The annual comprehensive reading volume among adults was 2.4 books, down 1.5 books from 3.9 in 2023. Adults read an average of 1.3 print books, 0.9 e-books, and 0.2 audiobooks. Book purchases averaged 0.8 print books and 0.6 e-books per person. By age group, the comprehensive reading rate among seniors aged 60 and older was just 14.4%, while those in their 20s (ages 19-29) recorded the highest rate at 75.3%. The gap by income was also significant. The reading rate among high-income earners with monthly income of 5 million won or more stood at 56.1%, compared with just 13.4% among low-income earners with monthly income of 2 million won or less.
