Religious books had a "difficult year" in 2006 with a 10.2% drop in sales compared to the previous 12 months, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

The slump to $745 million in total revenues was one of the biggest of any category listed in the annual estimate of total book sales in the U.S. released Tuesday by the organization. But, the report noted that religious books had still seen "strong" compound growth since 2002 at 7.5% per year.

The AAP estimates were drawn from data from the Bureau of the Census as well as sales information from 81 publishers "inclusive of all major book publishing media market holders" and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, it said.

The religion sales drop was topped by audiobooks, which fell 11.7% to $182 million. Compound growth for the category was a "healthy" 6.2 % a year, though.

The biggest growth occurred in e-book sales, which shot up 24% to $54 million, while adult paperback sales grew 8.5% to $2.3 billion, helping the broader adult and juvenile trade grouping see a 2.9% increase to $8.3 billion.

Mass-market paperbacks saw 4.6% growth to $1.1 billion, while sales through book clubs dipped 3% to $640 million. Adult hardcover books had a "strong" year, rising 4.1% to $2.6 billion.

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