On March 9, at a conference outlining key tasks for the publishing, printing and distribution sectors in 2026, representatives from regulatory agencies and publishing organizations reviewed the industry’s performance in 2025 and discussed solutions to promote the book market, accelerate digital transformation and strengthen reading culture in the coming years.

Maintaining growth while promoting digital transformation and reading culture

According to Nguyen Nguyen, Director of the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 2025 presented many challenges for the publishing industry. However, as Vietnam’s economy maintained growth of about 8.2 percent, the sector managed to overcome difficulties and achieved notable results.

Vietnam currently has 52 publishing houses operating under 49 governing bodies.

In 2025, the country recorded 51,574 publications, with a total of 543,544,860 printed copies. Printed books alone accounted for 42,816 titles with 457,689,857 copies.

Meanwhile, digital publishing experienced significant growth. During 2025, Vietnam recorded 5,218 electronic publications, attracting about 35 million visits.

Other types of publications such as maps, calendars and audiovisual media also saw positive growth.

In terms of subject structure, textbooks, teaching materials and reference books continued to account for the largest share with 15,139 publications, representing 32 percent of the country’s total publications. These materials directly serve the education system and learning needs of society.

Children’s books reached 9,934 publications, accounting for about 21 percent of the total. The growth of this segment reflects increasing reading demand among children and stronger attention from families to cultivating reading habits for younger generations.

Beyond publication volume, the economic indicators of the industry also recorded encouraging signals.

According to the report, total revenue for the publishing sector reached about VND4.165 trillion (US$170 million). State budget contributions totaled VND532.9 billion (US$21.7 million), up 56.9 percent year-on-year, while after-tax profit reached VND542.7 billion (US$22.1 million), an increase of 6.95 percent.

In the printing sector, by early 2026 Vietnam had about 3,580 licensed printing facilities, up 7.8 percent compared with 2024. Total printing industry revenue was estimated at VND158.5 trillion (approximately US$6.5 billion), up 5.8 percent, with profits of about VND11.45 trillion (approximately US$470 million).

The combined workforce in printing and publishing currently stands at about 61,800 employees, up 1.6 percent year-on-year. This indicates that publishing and printing continue to play an important role within Vietnam’s cultural industry ecosystem.

In the distribution segment, Vietnam now has 570 companies registered to distribute publications. In 2025, the total number of distributed publications reached about 610 million copies, up 5.9 percent, with revenue reaching VND5.23 trillion (US$214 million), an increase of 8.96 percent compared with 2024.

According to experts, the growth in distribution shows that the book market continues to maintain stable demand while reflecting the expansion of distribution networks, particularly online book sales channels.

One of the most notable trends in the publishing sector today is digital transformation. Statistics show that 35 out of 52 publishing houses now participate in publishing and distributing e-books, accounting for 67.3 percent of all publishers nationwide.

In 2026, the industry aims to continue developing in a modern and sustainable direction, with digital transformation and electronic publishing identified as key priorities. The sector plans to release about 57,000-59,000 publications, including 5,480-5,560 electronic publications with around 36.7-37.3 million visits.

Entertainment books are growing rapidly

Speaking at the conference, Nguyen Manh Hung, CEO of Thai Ha Books, said Vietnam is facing a major opportunity to develop its publishing industry, especially as culture is increasingly positioned as a key pillar in the country’s development strategy.

According to Hung, for the first time in many important state documents, culture has been identified as one of the three pillars of national development. This brings strong motivation to those working in publishing and reading culture development.

“For private publishing companies like ours, the attention from the Party and the State toward culture and the publishing sector is a tremendous source of encouragement. It would be a pity if we did not seize this opportunity to develop,” he said.

A notable milestone, Hung added, was the expansion of Vietnam Book Day into Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day. The addition of the phrase “reading culture” signals that the long-term goal is not only to organize book-related events but also to cultivate reading habits across society.

“We should not only publish more books or organize more book fairs. The important thing is how to encourage people to read more. When reading culture grows stronger, the publishing industry can develop sustainably,” he emphasized.

However, according to Hung, the scale of Vietnam’s publishing market remains relatively small compared with many countries in the region and around the world.

One key reason is that spending on books among Vietnamese consumers remains low. In many developed countries, book revenue typically accounts for about 2 percent of household spending, while in Vietnam the figure remains below 1 percent.

“We need to aim to increase spending on books. When people buy and read more books, the publishing industry will truly grow,” he said.

Along with market expansion, Hung also highlighted the importance of building a healthy publishing environment, particularly through stronger copyright protection.

Currently, piracy and unauthorized copying remain significant obstacles to the development of the publishing sector.

“If copyright protection is weak, it is very difficult for publishers to invest in the long term. We need stronger mechanisms to protect the rights of authors and publishers,” he suggested.

In addition, the structure of book content in the market is also changing. According to Hung’s observations, entertainment titles are growing rapidly, while academic, historical, scientific and political books show a declining trend. Although this reflects broader market trends, these knowledge-based segments still require continued attention and investment.

Drawing on his experience attending many international publishing conferences, Hung said publishing industries in other countries have developed strongly with innovative models that Vietnam could learn from.

“I believe Vietnamese people are very intelligent and quick to learn. With the right strategies and a supportive environment, Vietnam’s publishing industry can grow strongly in the future,” he said.

According to Hung, achieving this goal requires combining the economic development of publishing with the cultivation of reading culture. When the book market becomes transparent, copyrights are well protected and reading becomes a social habit, publishing will become an important component of Vietnam’s cultural economy and creative industries in the years ahead.

Tinh Le