VOL.93/2026.04

 

Korean Publishing Market Trends in 2025 and Outlook for 2026

 

2026.01.05

 

 

 

Trends in 2025: A Year of Digital Transformation and Practical, Stability-Oriented Content

 

In 2025, Korea’s publishing market underwent noticeable shifts in the ways readers discovered, selected, and consumed books, as digital transformation accelerated and social and economic uncertainty deepened. On the surface, the overall market size appeared relatively stable. Beneath that stability, however, structural changes became increasingly clear: the number of new titles grew significantly, while the average print run per title declined. As supply expanded, the actual market reach secured by individual titles continued to narrow. These changes were further shaped by the expansion of generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) and intensified competition from OTT (Over-the-Top) platforms. Together, they altered patterns of text consumption more broadly. As summarization, recommendation, and search functions shifted toward algorithm-driven systems, the entry points into reading changed as well, reinforcing a tendency to identify core information within shorter time spans.
Readers’ choices did not move in a single direction. Demand rose sharply for knowledge-driven content focused on practical problem-solving?such as economics, investment, career development, and AI?while literature and humanities titles that offered emotional stability or explored questions of humanity and society continued to be read steadily in an environment marked by accumulated anxiety and fatigue. In effect, different purposes and modes of reading expanded simultaneously.
The key forces that shaped the market in 2025 can be summarized as the notable resurgence of Korean literature; the expansion of practical knowledge centered on AI utilization; the rise of “text-hip” culture formed largely among readers in their twenties; and the growth of digital, and IP (Intellectual Property)-based content. Annual sales trend analyses released by Kyobo Book Centre and YES24 demonstrate that these shifts were evident across multiple areas of the market. Looking ahead, the outlook for 2026 focuses on how these currents will continue to unfold and take shape within the industry.

 

1. Key Trends in Korea’s Publishing Industry in 2025

 

① The Symbolic Triumph of Korean Literature and the Polarization of the Fiction Market

 

The year 2025 carried significant symbolic weight in that Korean literature once again captured readers’ sentiment and the social imagination. Human Acts by Nobel Prize?winning author Han Kang (Changbi Publishers) ranked first on the overall bestseller lists of both Kyobo Book Centre and YES24 for the second consecutive year. This indicates that the novel functioned not merely as a topical success, but as a “shared text” mediating social wounds and collective memory?reaffirming literature’s role as a genre that confronts the scars of its time and offers language through which they can be endured.
The interesting thing is that the momentum behind Korean fiction did not stem solely from new releases. One example is Contradictions by Yang Gui-Ja (Write Publishing), originally published in 1998, which climbed to the upper ranks of bestseller lists 27 years later, reaching second place overall at Kyobo Book Centre. This case demonstrates that texts regarded as modern classics can still resonate with the realities of a new generation. Alongside this resurgence, works by younger writers?such as Honmono by Sung Hae-Na (Changbi Publishers)?have further contributed to a multi-layered landscape in which Korean literature spans generations and emotional registers. Despite these impressive developments, structural polarization within the fiction market has intensified. According to data from Kyobo Book Centre, total sales volume in the fiction category rose slightly by 1.4 percent year on year, while sales of Korean novels recorded negative growth of 5.8 percent. In other words, reader attention and purchasing power are increasingly concentrated on a small number of bestsellers, narrowing the survival space for mid-list and later-arriving works. The increase in the number of novels ranked within the annual top 100?from 27 titles in 2024 to 30 in 2025?may suggest greater diversity on the surface, but in reality reflects a structure in which individual titles enjoy shorter shelf lives and face intensifying competition.

 

 

In international literature, the so-called Krasznahorkai L?szl? effect?following his receipt of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature?led to a 25.1 percent increase in sales within the “Other European Fiction” category at Kyobo Book Centre. Sales of British and American fiction also rose by 12.4 percent year on year, signaling a broad-based expansion of interest in literature as a whole. What merits particular attention here is that literary awards are functioning not merely as promotional tools, but as indicators of trust in “texts worth reading.” Faced with an overwhelming abundance of content, readers increasingly rely on prestigious prizes, authoritative recommendations, and media attention as mechanisms of quality assurance. Publishers, in turn, have entered a phase in which planning and marketing strategies must be recalibrated with this structure firmly in mind.

 

② The Explosion of Knowledge for Survival in the Age of AI and the Practical Turn in Content

 

The year 2025 marked a turning point in which AI came to be recognized not as a future possibility, but as a capability directly tied to present-day survival. According to data from Kyobo Book Centre, sales of AI-related books grew by 68.5 percent year on year. The focus of interest moved decisively away from theory and underlying principles toward practical application?questions such as, “What should I change right now in my work and daily life, and how?” The upper ranks of bestseller lists were dominated by titles offering immediately applicable guidance, including prompt engineering, strategies for human?AI collaboration, and AI-driven creation, analysis, and workflow automation?books designed to be put to use on the ground without delay. AI-related content is no longer confined to IT or engineering sections. Titles about AI are now pouring into categories such as economics and business, the humanities, education, self-development, and even practical and lifestyle genres. As a result, AI literacy is no longer positioned as specialized knowledge tied to specific industries, but is increasingly approaching the status of a form of “foundational cultural competence?something every professional and learner is expected to possess.”

 

 

A turning point was also evident in the composition of readers. According to data from Kyobo Book Centre, women in their 20s to 40s accounted for a higher share of AI book purchases than men in the same age group. This suggests that the use of AI is no longer an issue limited to specific professions or specialists, but is being embraced by a broad audience as an essential capability for managing careers, productivity, and everyday life in an integrated way. The fact that the number of newly published AI-related titles nearly doubled compared to 2024 further indicates that, on the supply side, the market has already shifted its center of gravity from “theory” to “application.” Ultimately, reading AI in 2025 was less about learning technology itself and more about designing survival strategies for an era defined by uncertainty. The core shift of the year lay in the focus on literacy, moving away from understanding AI toward using AI to better control the variables shaping one’s life.

 

③ Monthly Cross-currents Between Politics and Economics?and the Psychology of Practical Financial Investment and Management

 

In 2025, readers turned to books as a means of diagnosing present realities while preparing for the future at the same time. In the first half of the year, political and social issues were directly reflected in bookstore sales. According to Kyobo Book Centre, sales in the politics and society category rose by 19.1 percent year on year, with an extraordinary growth rate of 93.2 percent recorded in May, when political tensions peaked. YES24 likewise reported an 11.1 percent increase in sales of social and political titles. As books on constitutional issues and major political developments gained attention, readers sought to reread institutions, values, and power structures amid a turbulent political landscape. Political books are no longer confined to a “niche audience of specialists” - they are increasingly consumed as tools through which individuals examine their political identities and modes of participation.
In the second half of the year, the center of gravity shifted toward economics and personal finance. Data from Kyobo Book Centre show that stock-related books posted a striking growth rate of 99.3 percent in November alone. Bestsellers during this period focused not on abstract economic theory, but on topics directly tied to real-world investing?ETFs, US stocks, Bitcoin, and the relationship between elections and financial markets. Facing a convergence of risks, including high inflation, interest-rate volatility, and exchange-rate instability, readers are seeking practical manuals that go beyond passively defending assets to actively managing and growing them. A glance at recurring keywords?stocks, AI, ETFs, the US, Bitcoin, and Trump?reveals their simultaneous presence. This reflects a reading behavior shaped by the recognition that global political and economic variables must be read alongside domestic issues. The month-by-month cross-currents between political and social books on the one hand, and economic and financial titles on the other, signal that readers are navigating present-day uncertainty and future risk through different genres, reading them in complementary ways.

 

 

④ Text-Hip Culture Led by Readers in Their Twenties and the Rise of Digital and IP-Based Markets

 

It is difficult to discuss the publishing market in 2025 without addressing readers in their twenties. According to data from Kyobo Book Centre, this age group accounted for as much as 21.6 percent of purchases among the overall top ten bestsellers. For these readers, books are consumed less as information media than as lifestyle items that express personal taste and identity?a phenomenon often described as “text-hip” culture. At Kyobo Book Centre, sales of reading accessories such as book covers and bookmarks rose by 30 percent, reflecting a tendency to frame the act of reading itself as a form of style. A similar pattern is evident at YES24, where analog formats that involve writing and drawing by hand?such as transcription books, comics, and coloring books?have gained popularity. The more thoroughly consumption shifts to digital environments, the more pronounced becomes a paradoxical counter-trend: the growing collectible value of “go-to books” and “limited editions of re-covered titles.”

 

 

The influx of readers in their twenties has also had a direct impact on genre-specific growth. According to data from Kyobo Book Centre, poetry saw year-on-year growth of 15.5 percent, while comics grew by 15.0 percent. At YES24, IPs originating from web novels and webtoons have expanded across books, video content, and merchandise, firmly establishing an OSMU (One Source Multi Use) structure. In this process, publishing is no longer confined to the business of producing paper books; it is increasingly shifting toward designing and managing the entire IP life cycle. Looking at distribution channels, online sales (including mobile) at Kyobo Book Centre accounted for 63.0 percent of total sales, significantly surpassing offline stores, which stood at 37.0 percent. Rapid growth is also evident in digital consumption formats such as e-books and audiobooks. Within e-book subscription services?such as Kyobo Book Centre’s “sam” and YES24’s “Crema Club,” patterns of “tailored deep reading” are becoming more pronounced, spanning a wide range of content from future-oriented titles on topics like GPT and exchange rates to comics, exam-preparation books, and children’s titles. Audiobooks, too, are establishing themselves as a distinct format rather than a supplementary one, as listening to books while driving, exercising, or commuting becomes part of everyday life.

 

2. Outlook for 2026: Publishing Trends in Korea

 

① Redefining Human Value in the Age of AI and the Advancement of Knowledge Content

 

The publishing market in 2026 is expected to enter a phase that returns to a fundamental question: after absorbing the AI shock of 2025, how should we design a balance between technology and humanity? If the market for AI-related books expanded explosively in 2025, 2026 is likely to see increasing segmentation around highly specific, immediately applicable “AI utilization” titles?books that address concrete challenges such as “how can AI transform my role, the organization, or performance?” across different industries, jobs, and contexts. At the same time, technology-centered narratives are revealing clear limitations. As AI grows more advanced, the value of distinctly human capacities?ethics, reflection, empathy, and imagination?rises rather than diminishes. This helps explain the renewed attention given to philosophy, the humanities, literature, and the arts. The continued prominence of books that ask questions about coexistence with AI, the role of humans, and the direction of communities reflects the fact that books remain responsible not for technology itself, but for the human questions that arise within a technological world.
Another major axis of growth lies in content related to health and vitality. Titles addressing slow aging, brain health, sleep, resilience, and stress management?topics tied to the mental and physical sustainability of life?are increasing noticeably. Rather than focusing on techniques for simply living longer, practical books that help readers design lives that are mentally resilient and physically sustainable are likely to remain a key category in 2026. Ultimately, the three keywords?AI, the future, and health?converge on a single question: “how to live longer, better, and as human beings with dignity.”

 

② The Continuation of Korean Literature’s Golden Age, and Consumption Centered on Authors and Story Worlds

 

The literary market is likely to continue its steady growth, building on the boom in Korean literature in 2025. The consecutive year-long run of Human Acts at the top of bestseller lists represents more than the success of a single title; it stands as a representative case demonstrating the strengthening fundamentals of Korean literature as a whole. As readers in their twenties and thirties have emerged as the core consumer base, the unit of consumption is shifting away from individual books toward “authors” and their “literary universe.”
By genre, Korean novels continue to expand their thematic range by addressing social fractures, generational conflict, and issues of region and class with increasing depth. Poetry, meanwhile, is merging with practices such as transcription, recitation, and short-form quotation content, becoming a mode of emotional expression for Generation Z. Genre fiction?including SF, thrillers, and fantasy?is enhancing its value as story IP through expansion into webtoons, television dramas, and films. At the platform level, a growing array of formats?audiobooks, performances read by actors and voice artists, live author events, and web-based serialization?will further diversify the ways literature is consumed. Publishers, accordingly, must move beyond one-off releases toward long-term design strategies, including author-led series, story-world labels, and thematic curation. As international demand for translations and rights to Korean literature continues to rise, the “global dissemination of Korean literature” is increasingly likely to move beyond mere declarations and into the realm of concrete execution strategies from 2026 onward.

 

③ The Parallel Expansion of Advanced Practical Knowledge and Demand for Emotional Well-being

 

Reading demand in 2026 is expected to unfold in increasingly diverse directions. On one side, practical knowledge is becoming more finely differentiated in response to a more complex social and economic environment; on the other, the desire for emotional stability and inner balance is growing more distinct. Books on economics and personal finance are evolving beyond basic financial literacy to address more sophisticated portfolio design, covering ETFs, overseas equities, pensions, taxation, and asset structuring. This reflects a growing readership that prioritizes long-term life planning over short-term price gains. A similar shift is underway in the self-help category. The center of gravity is moving away from abstract advice?such as the idea that “changing one’s mindset is enough”?toward books that offer concrete, actionable strategies grounded in scientific disciplines like neuroscience, behavioral economics, and cognitive psychology.
Yet practical knowledge alone cannot fully explain readers’ needs. In an era where anxiety and fatigue have become part of everyday life, readers increasingly seek texts that help them recover and restore themselves. Korean novels, poetry, and essays?as well as comics, transcription books, and coloring books?now function as more than simple hobbies, serving instead as “emotional safe zones.” As digital fatigue deepens, the value of experiences that involve slowly turning pages, transcribing, and concentrating while coloring continues to grow.
Ultimately, the publishing market in 2026 can be distilled into two main axes. One is advanced practical knowledge aimed at survival and growth; the other is emotional well-being content designed to help individuals avoid losing themselves. These two forces are not in opposition. Rather, they operate simultaneously as twin pillars within a single person’s day and year. Against this dual structure, publishers must recalibrate their strategies?deciding how to differentiate content, which formats and channels to prioritize, and which readers to engage. The data from 2025 marks precisely the starting point that points the way forward.

 

 

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Written by Ryu Young-Ho (General Manager of eBusiness Division, Kyobo Book Centre)