More than 63 thousand people attended the 38th Moscow International Book Fair

More than 300 publishers and book distributors from various regions of Russia, as well as from Belarus, India, Iran, China, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and North Korea presented new and best-selling fiction, children's and educational literature, non-fiction, comics and gift editions at the fairs. During the fair, more than 300 events took place at 15 venues: meetings with writers, presentations, conferences, discussions, public talks, round tables and workshops.

The Republic of India became the guest of honor of the IIC. Within the framework of the program, more than 50 thematic events dedicated to modern technologies, artificial intelligence and cultural diversity of India were held at the Indian stand. More than 70 speakers from India and Russia took part in the events. Over 2,000 books were presented at the Indian stand.

The Moscow Department of Mass Media and Advertising took part in the work of the Moscow Book Exhibition, presenting the Moscow Book exhibition. More than 300 titles of book publications were presented at the stand. The publishing program of the Moscow government has paid special attention to supporting the publication of books of military-patriotic and historical orientation. Books related to the Great Patriotic War and other periods of military valor in the defense of the Motherland received special attention at the Moscow Book stand. Over the past few days, hundreds of guests have attended events and presentations of publishing and information projects dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Performances by Lia Arden, Daria Dontsova, Asi Lavrinovich, Alexandra Marinina, Zakhar Prilepin, Alexey Vorobyov, Anton Shagin were a great success at the Moscow International Film Festival. On the Main Stage, film director Egor Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky, together with Evgeny Vodolazkin, presented the new novel "The Aviator" and shared with the guests stories about its film adaptation, which will be released very soon.

On September 6, the Moscow International Film Festival announced a long list of the Fazil Iskander International Prize, which included more than 170 works in the following categories: fiction, poetry, children's and adolescent literature, fiction journalism, translations, drama and screenplays.

The Long list of the eighth season of the Electronic Letter Literary Award was announced at the 38th Moscow International Book Fair. The competition received more than 2,500 applications from digital authors and readers from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Israel, France and other countries. The most popular genres among all works were fantasy (18%), romance novels (16%) and science fiction (13%).

As part of the business program of the 38th Moscow International Book Fair, more than 20 professional events were held with the participation of leading experts from the Russian book market — publishers, book distributors, editors, library staff, government officials and public organizations.

The largest industry event on the book market, the Russian Book Market Conference, organized by the Russian Book Union in cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, took place on the Main Stage of the Moscow International Book Fair. The event was attended by Vladimir Grigoriev, Director of the Department of State Support for Periodicals and the Book Industry at the Ministry of Digital Affairs of Russia; Svetlana Zorina, President of the Book Distributors Association and Editor-in—Chief of the Book Industry magazine; Evgeny Kapyev, CEO of EKSMO Publishing House; Alexander Brychkin, CEO of the Chitai Gorod - Bukvoed united retail chain; and Alexander Brychkin, head of the Wildberries book category Alexey Kuzmenko, Sergey Anuryev, General Director of Litres, and other key figures in the Russian book market. During the conference, experts discussed the state and prospects of the Russian book industry, the main trends and problems of book publishing and distribution in Russia in the first half of 2024, trends in the development of the electronic and audiobook market, and the current state of the printing industry.

Evgeny Kapyev reviewed the general situation in the book market in the first half of 2025 — the number of book titles and brochures published by publishers in 2024 increased by 7.2% compared to 2023, the total circulation increased by more than 10%, but at the same time sales of paper books and sales via the Internet fell by 3%. Sales through marketplaces are growing rapidly: over the year, the growth was 35%, and marketplaces now occupy 57% of the market. Evgeny also noted that half of the sales are for books from 500 to 1000 rubles and the demand for publications from one and a half thousand rubles and above is actively growing. According to Svetlana Zorina, president of the Association of Book Distributors, the market has "sagged" in the main indicators – copy sales. Turnover fell by 1.6% last year. And over the past five years, offline sales have dropped by 29%. Sergey Anuryev noted that the digital literature market has grown by 21%.

On September 4, the best bookselling companies of the CIS were awarded. The diplomas of the CIS Executive Committee were awarded to teams from Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The 38th Moscow International Book Fair is over. The dates and venue of the 39th Moscow World Cup will be published additionally.