This marks a 4% increase from the previous year, according to new statistics released by the Publishers Association. The overall increase was assisted by popular successes like EL James' Fifty Shades trilogy, which managed an estimated total of 10.6 million sales in the UK alone. Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy managed over 2 million sales.

The newly released figures also reflect an increase in the market share of digital books. E-book sales rose by 134% to over €250 million, helped by a range of new e-book reader devices on the market and the continued prevalence of tablet computers & smartphones. The total digital market – which includes audiobooks and subscription services as well as individual e-books – has now increased to a 12% share of the overall book market.

While the figures reflect the sales of all published works – including school, academic and reference books – the fiction market has continued to prove successful, with just shy of €800 million worth of sales (both digital and physical) in the UK last year.

Richard Mollet of the Publishers Association says that “the continued increase in digital sales across different disciplines illustrates the shift of readers to e-book reading. Such growth has been achieved as British publishers have been able to invest in new exciting, innovative products and in great authors thanks to the strong framework provided by copyright law, which continues to be the cornerstone of stability for a creative industry like publishing.”