In 2024, Fiction achieved its highest sales since accurate records began, surpassing the previous peak by an impressive £50 million. This remarkable performance helped the overall British book market remain steady year-on-year, despite challenges in the Non-Fiction sector and declining revenues for many big-name authors.

Last year, Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market (TCM) recorded just over £1.82 billion in sales, a slight 0.6% dip from 2023, the year that officially holds the all-time TCM record. (While 2020 and 2021 likely exceeded 2023, incomplete data from those years prevents full-year totals.) Consistent with recent trends, strong revenue figures partly reflect rising book prices masking a decline in unit sales. Compared to five years ago, book buyers spent 62p more per unit, with the average price up £1.60 from 2014.

Although the 195.3 million units sold in 2024 outperformed the annual totals from 2013 to 2019, they fell short of the mid-2000s to early 2010s heyday, when annual sales often exceeded 210 million units. Even so, Fiction’s exceptional 2024 performance stands out. 

The Top Fiction Titles in 2024

BookTok, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and the ever-popular Richard Osman were key drivers for Fiction in 2024, with the genre dominating the charts. Fiction claimed the year’s top five titles, 16 of the top 20, and 32 of the top 50. Osman secured the top two spots with the launch of his new series, We Solve Murders, and the launch of the paperback of The Last Devil to Die.

Osman’s presence was strong, with three entries in the Top 50, matching romantasy titan Sarah J. Maas. However, the standout performer of the year was Freida McFadden. While McFadden wasn’t an unknown—she had sold £755,000 in 2023 and was already a digital phenomenon—2024 was her breakout year. Boosted by BookTok, a surge of new releases, and reissues from Little, Brown and US-based Sourcebooks, McFadden became the author of the summer. Together, Osman and McFadden generated £18 million in sales, accounting for £1 out of every £8 spent in the Crime, Thriller & Adventure category.

The Top Non-Fiction Titles in 2024

Despite these successes, the overall performance of the bestseller list was weaker. The Top 50 titles generated £79.4 million, down significantly from 2023’s £96.9 million. While Prince Harry’s Spare was a major outlier in 2023, even when excluding both years’ number-one books, 2024 still lagged behind dramatically.

The decline in bestseller revenue can partly be attributed to Fiction’s broader market share and a reduction in Non-Fiction hits. Non-Fiction: Trade titles, with an average selling price almost £4 higher than Fiction, had a diminished presence in 2024’s Top 50, featuring just 11 titles. A disappointing Christmas season exacerbated the decline, with Non-Fiction: Trade down 4.5% in value over the final 12 weeks of the year. This was reflected in the Top 50, which included several returning titles (e.g., GT Karber’s Murdle), evergreen backlist staples (James Clear’s Atomic Habits), and paperbacks of previous year’s hits (Rory Stewart’s Politics on the Edge, David Mitchell’s Unruly).

What can we expect for books in 2025?

Here in the first week of 2025, we look ahead to the books we are giddy about. A big part of our job here at LoveReading is scanning the horizon for books from our favourite authors, the next instalment of a beloved series, and of course the next debuts who'll be our future stars. We're always looking for new books to fall in love with and share, so of course we've already been compiling a collection of books we're waiting with baited breath to see on our shelves. And some we've already got our grubby little paws on and have been reading voraciously. 

Whether you're a huge reader and are setting yourself another reading target for 2025, you always have a book on the go, or have recently rediscovered reading here you'll find a selection of fiction and non-fiction that will entice and enthrall.  Check out our 2025 LoveReading Preview of the Best Books on the Horizon.

Which ones are you excited about?