Sweden: Audiobook listening remains flat despite increased access
September 8, 2026



Following Spotify’s launch of audiobooks at the end of 2025, more than half of Swedish households now have access to audiobooks, double the share before the launch, reports Mediavision. Nevertheless, actual daily listening has remained stable at around 15 per cent over the same period.

“The audiobook market is at an important turning point. The supply and the potential audience have grown sharply, but so far, we are not seeing a corresponding shift in either paying households or actual consumption. This is a clear sign of a market where competition is increasingly about gaining listeners’ time and loyalty, rather than making the audiobook available,” commented Fredrik Liljeqvist, Head of Analysis at Mediavision.


While daily listening has remained stable, the number of subscribing households for audiobooks has decreased by 9 per cent. Parallel to this, competition between audiobook services could be set to change fundamentally. Bonnier Books’ planned acquisition of Nextory would, if completed, bring together the market’s second- and third-largest players. Combined, Bookbeat and Nextory would reach subscriber levels on par with market leader Storytel.

“When the market is no longer growing at the top line, competition for existing listeners becomes all the more intense. This can benefit consumers through better offers, more content and faster product development. The big question going forward, however, is whether the global players succeed in growing the market – or whether they start taking listeners from the established services – which look set to become fewer and larger,” concluded Liljeqvist.