U.S. household expenditure on books by type 2021

The mean annual expenditure on books per consumer unit in the United States was 35.60 U.S. dollars in 2021. This meant an increase of expenditures on books for the second year in a row, as the mean annual sum stood at nearly 25 U.S. dollars in 2019. The figures fluctuated during the given period, yet they were generally in decline since 2007, when the mean expenditure on books through book stores still stood at more than 50 U.S. dollars per year.

Mean annual expenditure on books per consumer unit in the United States from 2007 to 2021, by type (in U.S. dollars)

Characteristic	Books not through book clubs	Books through book clubs	Encyclopedia and other sets of reference books
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Release date

September 2021

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Region

United States

Survey time period

2007 to 2021

Supplementary notes

Figures for periods prior to 2021 come from previous reporting.
A consumer unit consists of any of the following: (1) All members of a particular household who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or other legal arrangements; (2) a person living alone or sharing a household with others or living as a roomer in a private home or lodging house or in permanent living quarters in a hotel or motel, but who is financially independent; or (3) two or more persons living together who use their incomes to make joint expenditure decisions. Financial independence is determined by spending behavior with regard to the three major expense categories: Housing, food, and other living expenses. To be considered financially independent, the respondent must provide at least two of the three major expenditure categories, either entirely or in part.
Data are diary-based.
The shown figures are based on unpublished data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Figures are available upon request.
Missing data was not provided by the source as it was not reported in given years.

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