It’s that time of year again — everyone’s favourite — tax season! As we sharpen our pencils and ready our calculators, we were wondering whether Canadian’s book buying habits show that they’re keeping up on personal finance year-round, or if interest in books on Personal Finance and Investments & Securities suggests that we tend to “cram” at tax time. Let’s dive in on sales in two popular BISACs in this area: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Personal Finance and BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Investments & Securities to find out.
Looking at sales of Personal Finance titles over the past three years, month over month, we can see sales peaks tend to occur in December and January, with some ebbs and flows throughout the year — reflecting that perhaps Canadians are thinking about Personal Finance around this time of year — preparing for the holidays or starting a New Year’s resolution, perhaps? Sales of Personal Finance titles were up 20% in 2020 compared with sales in 2018.
Sales of Business & Economics / Personal Finance titles, 2018-2020
Meanwhile, Investments & Securities titles don’t see that same January peak — perhaps less of a “New Year’s resolution” effect here, as the sales peak in this category falls in December, with fairly stable sales through the rest of the year. Sales in the Investments & Securities category were high throughout the last six months of 2020 — the subject overall is also up 20% between 2018 and 2020.
Sales of Business & Economics / Investments & Securities titles, 2018-2020
So far in 2021, it looks like Canadians are keen to explore the world of Investments & Securities, with sales far above average in the category — January 2021 showed an impressive 99% increase over sales in January of 2020, and that’s building on strong sales throughout the back half of 2020. (This trend was not seen in the Personal Finance category, which remained nearly flat over 2020 sales in January of 2021.)
Top five bestselling Business & Economics / Personal Finance titles of 2020
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki (9781612680194)
The Intelligent Investor Rev Ed by Benjamin Graham (9780060555665)
The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton 🍁 (9780968394748)
Talk Money to Me by Kelley Keehn 🍁 (9781982117559)
Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam (9781119356295)
Top five bestselling Business & Economics / Investments & Securities titles of 2020
A Beginner’s Guide to the Stock Market by Matthew R. Kratter (9781099617201)
How to Day Trade for a Living by Andrew Aziz (9781535585958)
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle (9781119404507)
Stock Investing for Canadians for Dummies by Andrew Dagys and Paul Mladjenovic (9781119521945)
Warren Buffett by Keith Lard (9781976934940)
The format preferences of Canadian buyers, borrowers, and readers.