Portugal’s Book Sales Rise 6.9% in 2025, Led by Kids’ Titles and Coloring Craze

The Portugal Association of Publishers and Booksellers (APEL) has confirmed that book purchases climbed 6.9% in 2025, an uptick that funnels roughly €217.5 M into the national economy and keeps the average cover price just €14.66.

Why This Matters

• Stable prices in a year of 2.3 % inflation mean books have quietly become one of the few cultural products that did not outpace the cost-of-living surge.

• Children’s titles now capture 36 % of all sales, so parents will find bigger sections—and more promotions—on the high street.

• Livrarias retained 78.5 % of market value, safeguarding hundreds of storefront jobs from shifting entirely online.

• The boom is labelled “conjunctural,” signalling that VAT breaks or library funding could decide whether growth endures.

A Snapshot of the 2025 Marketplace

After a tepid 2024, the country’s book trade posted the best figures since the pre-pandemic Christmas of 2019. According to data audited by GfK – an NIQ company, just under 14.8 M printed copies left tills and online baskets. The revenue jump of 7.6 % outpaced volume because glossy hardbacks and parenting guides nudged the mean price up 0.6 %—well below energy or food inflation.

A telling detail: coloring books for adults surged alongside picture books for toddlers. Retail managers report that many buyers treat them as low-tech stress relief, spending under €10 for a title that delivers “hours of distraction” from screens.

What Is Really Driving the Jump?

Demographics – Portugal’s mini-baby-boom, concentrated in Lisbon’s ring municipalities, translated directly into new demand for board books and early-reader series.

Well-being trends – Wellness influencers promoted mandala coloring as a mindfulness hack, pulling the genre out of the craft aisle and into the main chart.

Cash-conscious gifting – With cinema tickets now brushing €9, a mid-priced paperback is again a competitive present.

Publisher agility – Houses such as Porto Editora released smaller print runs but more ISBNs—nearly 15 000 new titles—hedging risk and feeding constant novelty.

Caution From Inside the Industry

APEL chair Miguel Pauseiro calls the bump “welcome but fragile.” His reasoning:

• Fiction flat-lined at 33.6 % of units, hinting that Portugal’s adult reading rate is not expanding.

• Non-fiction slid to 26.8 %, a space where higher margins usually live.

• The coloring craze could fizzle as quickly as it ignited, echoing the Sudoku wave of the early 2000s.Pauseiro wants policy-makers to treat 2025 as proof that promotions such as “Cheque-Livro” school vouchers can move the needle—if they become permanent rather than one-off pandemic leftovers.

What This Means for Residents

• Parents & Caregivers: Expect deeper in-store discounts around Children’s Day and Christmas; stock moves fast, so preorder if a title is required for school.• Authors & Illustrators: Agents tell us Portuguese-language picture books fetch quicker advances, but adult debut fiction remains a harder sell.• Investors: Independent livrarias kept four-fifths of market value; commercial rents are the real threat, not e-books. Property owners with ground-floor space near metro exits have a new set of tenants to court.• Schools & Libraries: Bulk-purchase budgets travel further. With prices lagging inflation, a municipal library can increase its 2026 acquisitions list without new funding—if councils act fast before publishers test higher pricing.

Looking Ahead to 2026

Early January receipts hint at a return to normalised 3-4 % growth as the coloring fad matures. Meanwhile, e-books still account for less than 10 % of turnover—Portugal’s readers remain decidedly loyal to paper.

Publishers are lobbying the Portugal Finance Ministry to renew the temporary 0 % VAT on children’s textbooks and to extend it to any title with an educational component. Should that happen, analysts at Banco BPI calculate an additional €12 M could circulate through the sector next year.

For residents, the message is simple: if you value local bookshops, the next few months are critical. A continued habit of strolling in for a weekend purchase may decide whether last year’s numbers mark a blip or the start of a sturdier reading culture.