The Paper Notebook Industry in 2026: Cultural Innovation And Quality Improvement Proceed Concurrently, Personalization And Environmental Protection Lead The Way To New Development Directions

At the market level, the scale of China's paper notebook market reached 3.86 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%, and the retail volume reached 120 million books, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%, achieving a good momentum of both volume and price growth. Among them, mid-to-high-end cultural and creative notebooks performed particularly prominently. The sales share of products with a unit price of more than 50 yuan rose to 15.3%, an increase of 3.1 percentage points compared with the same period last year. The core driving force comes from the pursuit of personalization and a sense of ritual among young consumer groups. From the perspective of consumption scenarios, office notebooks account for 42.1%, still the core demand scenario; student notebooks account for 35.8%, focusing on light weight and high appearance; cultural and creative collection notebooks account for 22.1%, with the fastest growth rate, an increase of 18.9% year-on-year. The market pattern presents the characteristics of "concentration of leading enterprises and differentiated breakthroughs of small and medium-sized brands". Leading brands such as Deli, Chenguang, and Zhencai account for a total market share of 48.7%, while many small and medium-sized brands focus on segmented fields such as IP co-branding and niche design, forming a complementary pattern. It is worth noting that online channels have become the core growth pole, with online sales accounting for 62.3%, an increase of 7.5 percentage points year-on-year. Live streaming and community marketing have become key channels for brands to reach consumers.

In terms of product innovation and quality upgrading, the industry has shown many bright spots. Environmental protection has become the industry consensus. The application ratio of recycled paper, bamboo pulp paper, and degradable cover materials has increased significantly. In the first quarter of 2026, the sales share of environmentally friendly material notebooks reached 37.8%, an increase of 10.2 percentage points year-on-year. Brands such as Deli and Chenguang have launched "carbon neutrality" series notebooks, which conform to the current green consumption concept through environmental material certification and low-carbon production processes. The demand for personalized customization continues to surge. Enterprise customization, personal DIY, and theme customization have become mainstream. Customizable cover patterns, inner page layouts, hot stamping processes, and even embedded exclusive logos are widely used in corporate gifts, campus cultural and creative products, holiday souvenirs and other scenarios. The average price of customized notebooks is 30%-50% higher than that of ordinary notebooks, but it still maintains a high market acceptance. Materials and processes continue to upgrade. The application of high-end recycled paper and special paper has significantly improved the feel and texture of notebooks. Various binding methods such as spiral binding, loose-leaf binding, and thread glue binding meet different needs. Among them, spiral binding, with the advantages of smooth page turning and flat laying, accounts for 28.6% in office and student scenarios, becoming one of the most popular binding methods. In addition, IP co-branding has become an important means for brands to break through. The cooperation between stationery brands and animation, cultural and creative IPs, and museums is becoming increasingly frequent. The co-branded notebooks launched often trigger a rush to buy once they are on the market, further improving the added value of products and brand influence.

In terms of industry development trends, the paper notebook industry will continue to focus on the three directions of "cultural and creative, environmental protection, and personalization" in the future. With the consumption upgrading, consumers' demand for notebooks is no longer limited to writing functions, but more focused on cultural connotation and emotional value. The in-depth integration of cultural and creative IP will become the core of brand competition; the research and development and application of environmental protection materials will be further popularized, and green production and low-carbon packaging will become the industry standard; personalized customization will develop towards refinement and diversification, combining digital technology to achieve a "one person, one style" customization experience. At the same time, the layout of offline cultural and creative stores and immersive experience stores will gradually increase, and the online-offline integrated sales model will be further improved, promoting the sustainable and healthy development of the paper notebook industry.