Number of independent bookshops in UK hits ten-year high

Books on display at the Barnes Bookshop in London

(Image credit: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

published 12 January 2023

The number of independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland soared to a ten-year high last year, as people appeared to stick to the reading habits that they’d developed during the pandemic. According to the Booksellers Association, there are now some 1,072 independent bookshops across the two countries, following six consecutive years of growth. In 2016, there were 867. “You would think, with computers and so on, we would lose readership,” said Steve Matthews, the owner of Bookends in Carlisle. “I think though that they have enhanced readership.”

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