Australians are buying printed books in increasing numbers, with some 61 million sold in 2018.
The 2018 figure, up by 10 per cent on the previous year's total of 55.5 million, although in real terms book sales are up by a much more modest number, as the latest data is from more retailers than last time, nonetheless sales are still higher.
By far the biggest selling book of the year at 524,000 copies was Barefoot Investor. The 264pp guide to personal wealth creation was printed in Singapore by COS, which like Opus here is a subsidiary of Hong Kong based 1010 Group.
Number two and number three books were both printed by McPherson's in Victoria. The 356pp 104-Storey Tree House, the latest in Andy Griffith's children's series, saw 268,000 copies come off the presses, while number three for the year with 225,000 copies sold was Mark Manson's The Simple Art of Not Giving a F***.
The value of books sold locally was up by 12 per cent, to $1.2bn, compared to $1.07bn the year before, again with the caveat that the like for like figures show a more modest increase, but an increase all the same.
And in further good news for the nation's book printers the trend upward is not due to any one off local event, figures just out for the UK show a smilar upward trend.