At the Frankfurt Book Fair 2021, held October 20–24 as a hybrid in-person and online event,  Intergraf, the European trade association for printing, held a conference on book printing. With many traditional printing applications in decline, book printing is one of the bright spots, with sales of physical books increasing in many countries, despite the ongoing competition from ebooks and audiobooks. Several speakers highlighted topics driving book publishing—and especially the printed book today and in the years to come.

Intergraf research partner Smithers presented some findings at the conference from their European Book Printing Markets study. According to Smithers, printed book revenues in Europe grew from 2017 to 2019. However, in 2020, a dip in revenues followed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Smithers estimates that European book revenues did drop from €6.3 billion in 2019 to €5.8 billion in 2020, which represents a decline of about 8%. The reported decline seems a bit on the high side, given data issued by European book publishing organizations. Several countries in Europe reported growth in printed books. For example, Nielsen Bookscan in the UK registered a 2% growth in printed book revenue in 2020.

Although there might be some disagreement on the 2020 data, the consensus is that the outlook is bright. As the book market reverts to the growth pattern seen in the years before the pandemic, a growth in book volumes and revenues is forecasted. In 2026, analysts are expecting close to €8 billion in printed book revenues. Some increase in revenue is due to digital print driving the value per book.