Global publishing market has been declining in recent years, although very slight growth was registered in 2017. Sluggish growth is expected in the forecast period. Declines in this market are being driven by the contraction seen in the newspapers and magazines segments of the market. Newspapers are being impacted by the fall of advertising spend, both in print and digital form. What’s more, the average time spent on mobile phones per day is increasing; this permits increased exposure of the customer to digital adverts. Similarly, circulation revenue is also falling as the availability and accessibility of free news content continues to grow.

Books segment was the market's most lucrative in 2017, with total revenues of $121bn, equivalent to 46.3% of the market's overall value. The newspapers segment contributed revenues of $93bn in 2017, equating to 35.6% of the market's aggregate value. This market will remain subdued as social media and the prevalence of mobile devices continue to act as a disruptive force in the newspapers segment of the market. What’s more, magazines will continue to struggle as the availability of substitutes, particularly online content, continues to grow.

China accounts for over 44% of the Asia-Pacific market value. Steady economic performance has laid a solid financial foundation for the Chinese publishing market to grow healthily. In addition, the increasing popularity of online books has also contributed to the growth of the market value. Furthermore, with increasing internet and mobile penetration rates in China, digital publishing has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Despite the increase in digital publishing, traditional print publishing has maintained steady growth, especially in the education sector where growth has been strong.