In its 20th edition, the ranking continues to show the strength of STM and professional publishers, the resiliency of trade publishing despite global reports of a decline in reading, education moving more toward digital publishing, and some new players entering the global market.

By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox

In 2025, the top 48 ranked publishing companies generated $75.5 billion (€64.2 billion) in publishing revenue, roughly half the revenue of the industry globally, according to the recently released Global 50 Publishing Ranking 2026. The report is researched annually by Rüdiger Wischenbart Content and Consulting, working with international partners and contributors, including Publishing Perspectives contributing editor Carlo Carrenho and contributing writer Talita Facchini, and provides insight into the larger global industry.

The 2026 report marks the 20th edition of the ranking and includes a spotlight on the publishing industry in China by Sanguo Cheng, CEO of Bookdao; a highlight on leading publishing companies in India; a deep-dive into nontraditional publishing platforms such as digital subscriptions, serialized storytelling, content bundles, and technology companies that are appealing to today’s readers; plus interviews with Bookwire CEO Jens Klingelhöfer on how the company is expanding; and an interview with Rakuten Kobo CEO Michael Tamblyn on why the ereader continues to engage, even with a younger reader.

The Ranking

First launched in 2007, the Global 50 ranks publishers by their publicly-reported revenue. The 2026 edition ranks 48 publishing groups according to their annual publishing revenues and lists six additional major publishing companies that are part of larger groups and are therefore not ranked separately. In the case of companies like Simon & Schuster and McGraw Hill which are owned by private equity companies that do not disclose their earnings at all or haven’t in past years, the ranking is based on the best available revenue data.

“The global publishing industry remains remarkably concentrated at the top. More than half of the revenue generated by the 48 companies in the ranking comes from just the ten largest groups. Consolidation continues to be one of the defining forces shaping the industry,” said Wischenbart.

While the top 6 companies on the ranking remain the same, the order has changed this year with Bertelsmann taking the lead with almost $6.7 billion (€5.93 billion) in publishing revenue across Bertelsmann Education Group, which was the strongest driver of growth, and Penguin Random House, which remains the world’s largest trade publisher.

Unsurprisingly, STM publishing continues to outpace trade and education, though trade has seen an increase.

“Trade publishing remains remarkably resilient, with several of the largest groups continuing to grow,” said Wischenbart.

“Education, by contrast, is increasingly divided: companies that have successfully moved beyond the traditional textbook toward digital learning platforms and services are expanding, while those still dependent on conventional textbook models are under growing pressure.”

The Top 20 Companies*

 

What this year’s report brings is a wider look at the changing international marketplace, how readers are using and engaging with books, and how that is impacting the larger industry. With additional reporting and interviews on key markets, the report provides keen insight for international publishing professionals.

Sponsored by Bookwire and Rakuten Kobo, and with Publishing Perspectives, Bookdao, and Digital Publishing Report as publishing partners, the Global 50 Publishing Ranking 2026 can be downloaded here and will be presented in the Publishing Perspectives Forum at the Frankfurter Buchmesse on Wednesday, October 7 at 12:00pm on the Dialogue Stage, followed by an interview with Tobias Wann, CEO of tonies.

The report is supported by 13 international media partners: Books+Publishing (Australia), PublishNews (Brazil), Livres Hebdo (France), All About Book Publishing (India), Giornale della Libreria (Italy), Hon.jp (Japan), inct (Netherlands), BOK365 (Norway), Rynek Książki (Poland), PublishNews (Spain), Boktugg (Sweden), The Bookseller (U.K.) and Publishers Weekly (U.S.).

For the full Publishing Perspectives Forum schedule, click here.

*In cases where the company was a division or imprint of a larger company, it was not listed separately.