Book sales
Contact info
Science, Technology and Culture, Business Statistics.Christian Törnfelt
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The purpose of the statistics Book sales is to shed light on the development of book sales in Denmark. The statistics illustrate the trends in the number of copies sold through physical bookstores and online sales channels. The statistics are new as of 2024 and include data from the third quarter of 2022 onwards.
Statistical presentation
Book sales is a quarterly compilation of the number of physical books, e-books and audiobooks sold through physical bookstores (including the largest supermarket chains) and online sales channels. Sales of used books (e.g. from second-hand bookstores, thrift stores, and flea markets) are not included. The statistics are categorized by genre, format/media, publication language, original language and binding type. The data is published in the newsletter Nyt fra Danmarks Statistik (in Danish only) and in Statbank Denmark. Data sources and coverage are still under development, and the figures are therefore preliminary. Future revisions may occur.
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Statistical processing
Data for this statistics is collected through monthly transfers of transaction data on book sales units from SAXO.com A/S, Indeks Retail (Bog & Idé), Gucca and the major supermarket chains (COOP, Salling and Dagrofa).
The transaction data is enriched with information from DBK, which manages the Bogportalen and Publizon, allowing the books to be classified by genre, format/media, publication language, original language and binding type. If this information is missing for certain editions, efforts are made to manually complete it using various assumptions.
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Relevance
The key users are stakeholders in the book industry, the Ministry of Culture and other interested parties. The statistics are used for analyses in the literature sector.
Accuracy and reliability
The statistics cover the majority of book sales in Denmark, purchased new. The metadata coverage is considered satisfactory for Danish publications, although coverage is lower for foreign publications. Coverage is also lower for books/book products where the primary purpose is not reading, such as coloring books, board books, activity books, calligraphy books, books with music notation, songbooks, and puzzle books like Sudoku. ISBN errors may occur, but they are not deemed to be a widespread issue.
The figures are preliminary, and future revisions may occur as book sales data expands and metadata quality improves.
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Timeliness and punctuality
The figures are provisional, and future revisions may occur. The publication of the statistics takes place at the end of November. Since the statistics are new, the punctuality of the statistics cannot yet be described.
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Comparability
The statistics are not directly comparable to other published book sales statistics. There are no international guidelines for the production of book sales statistics.
Accessibility and clarity
These statistics are published yearly in the newsletter Nyt fra Danmarks Statistik (in Danish only) at the same time as the tables are updated in the StatBank. In the StatBank, these statistics can be found under the subject Literature.