Portugal’s Bookshops Rebound, Selling 3.3 Million Print Titles in Spring

Portugal’s publishing industry has just wrapped up a surprisingly buoyant spring. The latest audit shows that nearly 3.3 M printed books changed hands between April and June, earning more than €47 M for publishers and retailers even though the average cover price inched up again. Independent bookshops, children’s stories and an early-summer calendar packed with literary events all played a part—offering useful clues for foreigners wondering where to find reading material in their new home.

A steadier page-turn in 2025

After several flat quarters, the second trimester produced a 9.8 % jump in unit sales and an 11.1 % lift in revenue compared with the same stretch of 2024. The small gap between the two growth rates reveals an interesting fact: prices only crept up 1.2 % to an average €14.55, a figure still cushioned by Portugal’s 6 % VAT on books, one of the lowest in Europe. While digital formats remain marginal here—industry trackers say ebooks and audiobooks rarely exceed a mid-single-digit share—print clearly retained its pull.

Brick-and-mortar strikes back

For anyone arriving from markets dominated by online giants, Portugal’s retail mix can feel almost nostalgic. Traditional livrarias captured 70.7 % of copies sold and a commanding 79.1 % of total spend, leaving hypermarkets with the remainder. Chains such as Bertrand or FNAC still dominate the high street, yet this quarter’s surprise winners were small independents in Lisbon’s Bairro Alto and Porto’s Cedofeita, which reported double-digit growth as tourists and expats sought English-language imports. Hypermarkets moved 29.3 % of volumes—handy for last-minute beach reads—but delivered a proportionally lower share of revenue because of aggressive discounting.

Children lead the story—fiction leads the money

The single busiest shelf was literatura infanto-juvenil. Kids and YA titles made up 38.5 % of units, their €11.58 average price keeping family baskets light. Yet in cash terms, adult fiction punched hardest: 32.9 % of copies but 38 % of revenue, driven by fresh Portuguese crime novels and translated Booker winners retailing at €16.82 on average. Non-fiction held a respectable 25 % share, with history podcasts-turned-books and wellness manuals selling at €17.59. Limited-edition “campaign & exclusive” imprints—think newspaper tie-ins—remained fringe, contributing just 3.6 % of copies and 1.1 % of takings.

Why the sudden lift?

Publishers credit a perfect spring storm: April’s World Book Day promotions, a longer-than-usual Lisbon Book Fair that spilled into early June, and the Education Ministry’s decision to expand its school voucher scheme to one additional grade. Those factors nudged locals back into stores while tourists filled their suitcases with Portuguese classics in bilingual editions. The broader economy also helped; Portugal’s unemployment rate is hovering near a 20-year low, and consumer confidence hit a post-pandemic high in May, giving households permission to spend on discretionary treats like novels.

Practical takeaways for newcomers

Expats often ask where to buy books in English. The numbers confirm what regulars already know: try Livraria Britânica in Chiado, Words Alive in Cascais, or Utopia in Porto for the latest imports; expect to pay a small premium over Amazon but enjoy same-day gratification. Families can stretch budgets by targeting children’s titles at hypermarkets, especially during back-to-school campaigns. If you read Portuguese, sign up for loyalty apps such as Bertrand’s “Cartão Leitor”, which quietly counters the price rise with cashback credits. And remember: used-book stalls at weekly flea markets offer hidden gems for a few euros.

Turning the page on the rest of the year

Publishers are cautiously optimistic that Portugal can finish 2025 up by mid-single digits so long as inflation remains tame. New tax incentives for translators announced in June should broaden the roster of foreign authors available in Portuguese next Christmas. APEL’s autumn forecast will watch whether hypermarkets keep slicing margins and whether ebook adoption finally accelerates. For now, though, the printed page is enjoying a renaissance—good news for anyone who likes to read their way into a new country.