Europe Audiobooks Market Size and Share Outlook - Forecast Trends and Growth Analysis Report (2024-2032)

Europe Audiobooks Market Growth

The proliferation of smart devices, the burgeoning popularity of audiobooks among regular commuters to pass the time, and the growth of subscription models are some of the crucial drivers for growth of the Europe audiobooks market. Audiobooks offer a great way to make long commutes in many European cities more productive and enjoyable, thus promoting their increased usage.

Europe's rich linguistic diversity presents a multitude of opportunities to the market players and book publishers for the production of audiobooks in several languages. This allows for catering to diverse linguistic groups and serves as a means to promote and celebrate cultural diversity within the region.

Audiobooks are becoming increasingly popular as more and more book titles are being released in this format. Publishers are not only converting printed books into audiobooks but are also putting emphasis on producing content exclusively for audiobooks to cater to the growing niche segment of readers.

Key Trends and Recent Developments

Higer working age population, growing publishing industry, increased smartphone use, and strategic collaborations between key players have increased the Europe audiobooks market value.  

January 2024

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) has been in effect since March 2022. Post its implementation, Spotify users in Europe have been able to purchase audiobooks from its platform. This has allowed Spotify to avoid the 30% in-app purchase fees Apple charged for application installments from its app store. The DMA has made it mandatory for big tech firm to treat their own products and services similar to their competitors.

November 2023

Audible, Amazon’s audiobooks company, had announced EUR 5 million worth of investment in Spain’s audiobooks market. The investment has been used to produce new titles in Spain during 2024. Audible currently holds 80% of the country’s market share, according to Europe audiobooks industry analysis. The company’s own data revealed by Audible Compass 2023 study conducted by Kantar Public suggests that 51% of Spanish population listened to audiobooks regularly in 2023, a 16% rise from 2022.

October 2023

Global music streaming platform Spotify had announced the addition of audiobooks to its platform for premium subscribers in the UK. The section since then has been available free of cost containing 15 hours’ worth of audiobook content per month from a wide catalogue of 150,000 audiobooks. This was followed by Spotify’s announcement of launching audiobooks for premium subscribers in Ireland on April 2nd, 2024. The catalogue by then was expanded to 250,000 audiobooks.

March 2022

Copenhagen-based Saga Egmont, the digital publishing subsidiary of publishing giant Egmont announced its partnership with the United Kingdom’s Head of Zeus—a Bloomsbury publisher, Hachette UK’s Bookouture, Didcot-based Jacaranda in Oxfordshire, and Dublin’s New Island Books. This mega partnership will grant Saga Egmont with exclusive distribution rights over the English language audiobooks it will develop for more than 300 titles collected from the four publishers.

Higher Working Age Population is Fueling Europe’s Audiobooks Demand Growth

Audiobooks have a high preference among Europe’s working population, currently estimated at 75.3% of the total population in the age group of 20-64 years. The reason for the high preference is their flexibility of use as they enable readers to meet their reading needs easily while working, multitasking or travelling during time constraints. As the working age population further grows, the market is expected to witness a huge increase in demand, according to the industry trends and analysis.

Growing Publishing Industry Creates New Europe Audiobooks Market Opportunities

Europe houses some of the largest and most qualitative publishing industries in the world. According to the Federation of European Publishers, the overall revenue generated by the industry during 2022 amounted to EUR 23.9 billion, a rise of 0.3% from the previous year. The largest share was accounted by publishing markets in Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain.  As these publishing markets continue to grow, the audiobooks market will witness a rise in production and sale volumes. 

Increased Use of Smartphones and Internet Enhancing Audiobooks Access for Users

Audiobooks can be compatibly used in smartphones and other internet-based devices. According to the audiobooks industry statistics in Europe, 96% of adults already had access to smartphones in 2021, whereas 82% had access to the internet during the same period. As the adoption of these devices grow further, the Europe audiobooks industry will witness new opportunities, propelling the market’s growth to new heights.

Use of AI Leading the Europe Audiobooks Market to a Sustainable Future

Strategic collaborations between key market players in Europe are enhancing the industry’s growth by mutual leverage of AI technologies. The objective is to increase the efficiency of audiobooks production, downloads, and use across major European languages. A few AI applications contributing to this objective include AI based narration, translation, and conversion of text to speech.

Europe Audiobooks Industry Segmentation

“Europe Audiobooks Market Report and Forecast 2024-2032” offers a detailed analysis of the market based on the following segments:

Market Breakup by Genre

• Fiction
• Non-Fiction 

Market Breakup by Preferred Device

• Smartphones
• Laptops and Tablets
• Personal Digital Assistants
• Others

Market Breakup by Distribution Channel

• One-time Download
• Subscription-Based

Market Breakup by Target Audience

• Kids
• Adults

Market Breakup by Country

• United Kingdom
• Germany
• France
• Italy
• Others 

Europe Audiobooks Market Share

Based on genre, the market is divided into fiction and non-fiction. Fiction audiobooks account for a major market share as fiction books consist of a wide range of genres, including classics, literary works, thrillers, and science fiction which provide great means of entertainment for those who enjoy listening to books.  Moreover, a factor which makes them especially appealing is their ability to be enjoyed passively, making them perfect companions for activities such as commuting, and exercising, among others. 

Leading Companies in the Europe Audiobooks Market

The market participants are increasingly using social media for the promotion of audiobooks to gain a competitive edge in the market.

• Amazon.com Inc.
• Apple Inc.
• Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Inc.
• Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Google LLC
• Blackstone Audio, Inc.
• Storytel AB
• W. F. Howes Ltd.
• Penguin Random House Co.
• Storytec Ltd.
• Bolinda Digital Pty Ltd.
• Others