The Ukrainian Book Institute identifies the most successful publishers and booksellers

The Ukrainian Book Institute (UBI) published a list of top-performing publishers based on their financial reports for 2021-2024. UBI analyzed financial statements from Ukrainian publishers over the past three years using YouControl and youcontrol.market services. The full report is available online (in Ukrainian).

The list includes the top 20 most profitable publishers. 

1. Family Leisure Club — 14,6 million USD (593 million UAH);
2. Ranok, including educational literature — 14,5 milion USD (592 million UAH);
3. Pobuelectktrotehnika, educational publisher — 7,8 million USD (319 million UAH);
4. Geneza — 7,7 million USD (314 million UAH);
5. STEM Education — 6,2 million USD (251 million UAH);
6. Orion — 5,3 million USD (217 million UAH);
7. Folio — 5,2 million USD (213 million UAH);
8. A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA — 5,2 million USD (210 million UAH);
9. Old Lion Publishing House — 4,8 million USD (197 million UAH);
10. Vivat — 4,7 million USD (191 million UAH);
11. Publishing House “Osvita,” educational publisher — 4,6 million USD (186 million UAH);
12. Nash Format — 3,7 million USD (149 million UAH);
13. BookChef — 3,6 million USD (147 million UAH);
14. Linguist, educational publisher — 3,6 million USD (147 million UAH);
15. Pidruchnyky i Posibnyky, educational publisher — 3,4 million USD (140 million UAH);
16. Intellect of Ukraine, educational publisher — 3 million USD (126 million UAH);
17. Pero, educational publisher — 3 million USD (124 million UAH);
18. Aston, educational publisher — 3 million USD (123 million UAH);
19. -20. Unisoft/Talent — 2,6 million USD (105 million UAH).

The institute reports that Ukrainian publishers saw a significant increase in revenue in 2023, doubling their earnings compared to 2022 and exceeding 2021 figures by over a third. However, the Ukrainian Book Chamber notes that print runs decreased in 2023, amounting to only 55% of the 2021 result. The UBI attributes the profit increase to rising book prices. 

In the first quarter of 2024, 19 of 22 major publishers showed financial growth, surpassing 2023 indicators. Large publishers have largely overcome the crisis, with only 19 of 104 publishers with annual revenue over 4 million UAH performing worse in 2023 than in 2021. 

The report also examines the performance of the most successful book retailers (offline bookstores):

1. Knyharnia Ye (Bookstore Ye, a bookstore chain) — 20,3 million USD (823 million UAH) in 2023; 
2. Bukva (a bookstore chain) — 2,4 million USD (97,5 million UAH);
3. Knyholand (a bookstore chain, Ranok Corporation) — 2 million USD (82,6 million UAH);
4. Readeat (Kyiv) — 570,000 USD (23 million UAH);
5. Budynok Knyhy (Chernihiv) — 500,290 USD (20,3 million UAH);
6. The Book Lion (Kyiv, Lviv) — 341,229 USD (13,83 million UAH);
7. Siayvo (Kyiv) — 341,054 USD (13,82 million UAH);
8. Bukovynska Knyha (Chernivtsi) — 293,293 USD (11,9 million UAH);
9. Knyzhkovyi Svit (Khmelnytskyi) — 252,100 USD (10,2 million UAH);
10. My Bookshelf (Kyiv) — 212,448 USD (8,6 million UAH);

And online bookstores, featuring the five most successful:

• Yakaboo — 12,4 million USD (503 million UAH); 
• Bookstor Ye (50% from total turnover) — 10,1 million USD (411,7 million UAH); 
• New Technologies — 1,1 million USD (46,1 million UAH); 
• Knyholand (50% from total turnover) — 1 million USD (41,3 million UAH);
• Nash Format — 418,160 USD (17 million UAH).

The report notes that small publishers are the most vulnerable and require government support, as they produce influential content, drive positive change in genres, and foster diversity by engaging young authors, all of which are crucial for the creative sector.

Copy editing: Joy Tataryn, Terra Friedman King