The digital book market (e-books and audiobooks) is on the rise in Romania, being estimated to reach at least RON 50 million (over EUR 10 million) in 2025 and represent 10% of the local book market, according to a recent study by Voxa. Currently, the digital format adds up to less than RON 5 million and accounts for roughly 1% of total book sales.

Audiobook & e-book streaming platform Voxa launched on April 4 the first edition of the "Digital Book Market in Romania" report, which analyzes the evolution of the local audiobook and e-book market over the last year. The study was carried out between January and March 2023.

Book sales in Romania (print, e-book and audiobook) are currently estimated at around RON 500 million. Of this total, the digital book market has a value of less than RON 5 million, but Voxa estimates say that, in the next three years, this segment will generate revenues of at least RON 50 million.

"Audiobooks represent the book format with the fastest growth in the last 5-6 years at the international level, and this industry grew rapidly in the first year of activity in Romania. Our estimates show that the digital book market will reach 10% in the next three years, up from less than 1% today," said Dan Vidrașcu, CEO of Voxa.

He also quoted a report by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), according to which, in 2021, the digital format represented about 38% of total book sales in Japan, while in the US, the share of digital was almost 25%. In European countries, audiobooks and e-books represent up to 15% of the book market, with higher shares in the Nordic countries.

"These international trends are beginning to be reflected in the behaviour of local reading enthusiasts, and we see a growing demand for audiobooks in Romanian," Dan Vidrașcu said.

2022 marked the first year of activity of the audiobook segment in Romanian on the local book market. The audiobook & e-book streaming platform Voxa ended the first year of activity with revenues from subscriptions worth about RON 4 million and a number of 160,000 recurring users. By March 2023, the number of Voxa users exceeded 190,000.

Voxa was launched in November 2021 and currently lists over 68,000 titles in Romanian and English.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Oleg Dudko | Dreamstime.com)