For the first time since 1999 the number of new books published in the United States declined.  According to Bowker, the company which provides ISBNs for U.S. publishers and published the authoritative Books in Print compendium, the number of new books and new editions of older works released in the U.S. declined by 9% in 2005 to 172,000 versus 200,000 titles in 2004.  This drop-off is only the tenth decline recorded in the last 50 years and represents an acknowledgement by publishers of declining per unit sales.  General adult fiction and children's books both showed double-digit decreases in new titles and editions.  Adult non-fiction categories such as history, biography, technology and religion also declined.  The number of new releases from the major book publishers dropped 4.7%, although sports and recreation and medical and health titles posted significant gains.

ICv2 estimates that manga and graphic novel releases for 2005 were up slightly in 2005.  Manga publishers experienced a shakeout effect from the increasingly crowded market, but the number of titles released in 2005 matched 2004 levels, while the number of non-manga graphic novels increased.  This growth in the number of manga and graphic novel releases appears to be continuing in 2006 and testifies to the fact that foreign and domestic graphic novels remain one of the hottest categories in publishing.

In the U.K., which has consistently been the leader in per capita publication of books in any language, the number of new books published in 2005 rose by an astonishing 28% (and increase of some 45,000 titles) to 206,000, making the U.K. the world's numerical leader in the publication of English language books.