The number of children's books featuring Black main characters in the UK fell by almost 8% last year, according to research into diversity in publishing. Inclusive Books for Children found that just 47, or 2.1%, of the 2,189 books published for under-10s in 2025 featured a Black main character. This represents a 7.8% decrease from the previous year.
Black children constitute approximately 8.5% of the under-10 age bracket in England and Wales. The study also noted a decline in representation for South Asian main characters, which fell by 14.3 percentage points to 1.4%, despite children of South Asian heritage making up about 12.4% of the under-10 population.
Only three books published in 2025 featured main characters of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) heritage, a 50% drop from the year before. All three of these books were refugee narratives. Overall, only 150 books, or 6.9% of those surveyed, featured main characters from minority ethnic, disabled, or neurodivergent backgrounds.
The report highlighted a significant drop in disabled characters in picture books, falling by 60% in 2025 to just two titles. However, there were some areas of progress, with neurodivergent representation in picture books increasing from three titles in 2024 to 13 last year. The baby and toddler category also saw a 29.4% rise in books with marginalised main characters.