The publishing industry continues its spectacular upward trend since 2010. Pandemic It will close the year 2023 with a growth of over 1% recorded in 2022 and this It could reach 2.3% “due to the increase in prices and the stability of demand”According to estimates, advisor Ignacio López, head of GfK consultancy Market Intelligence, has recently merged with Nielsen, another major company highlighted in the 8th edition of Forum Edita in Barcelona this Tuesday.
In her presentation at the Edita Forum, organized by the Catalan Publishers Association and Pompeu Fabra University, López underlined “a promising start for the year” as a 0.9% growth was recorded in the first half (compared to the same period of the year). The year 2022, when it grew by 3.5%, and the months of July and August were also positive. These data point to a higher turnover (505 million, approaching 514 of the best pre-pandemic year 2011 and higher than 501 in 2022). He listed some of the more striking figures when taken into account: “Inflation, the global economic situation, the paper crisis with the rise in paper prices, the war in Ukraine and the macroeconomic situation of the world”. That’s why López quoted Patrici Tixis, president of the Catalan Publishers Association, at the opening of the meeting on Monday: “the publishing market is resilient“.
However, these positive numbers do not mean more sales. Fewer copies were sold (2.4%) during this first period, but this was offset by an increase in the average price of the copy (3.5% compared to 2022). The average price increased from almost 14.3 euros until June to almost 15 euros in July and August; The consultant estimates that this figure will be exceeded by September. The average price of innovations will increase by 7% to 16 euros.
manga recession
Fiction and non-fiction were the best-selling genres during the first period. but registered on “take a break” comicLópez emphasizes: “It doesn’t mean he’s not in good health, but rather that he’s a part of it. little recession After the spectacular growth in recent years since the pandemic, especially in terms of manga”.
San Jordi
López has reserved a special section for Sant Jordi, which is one of the most important events of the year for the sector, especially in Catalonia. 2021, the face-to-face return after the pandemic, has been a “fantastic” year with an increase in turnover reaching 46.1 million euros (an unforgettable stormy day), falling to 42.9 million in 2022; This 2023 reached 44.4 million, up 4% from the previous year (23.7 million in Catalonia alone). Almost one and a half million copies were sold here that week (11 percent more than in 2022), with booksellers intensifying 71% of those sales. In addition, 41% of sales were Catalan books, and 37% of the books sold were fiction, 30% were non-fiction and 25% were Children’s and Teenage Literature (LIJ).
In its place, in three weeks, Madrid book fairmarket remained stablebookstores concentrated only 32% of sales, and non-fiction (38%) outsold fiction.
The health of librarians
López stressed that “great health and strength booksellers“, “they do things well, they know how to adapt to the times, how to reinvent and evolve, they are great drivers in the market despite the competition”. They grew in sales by 2.9% (from 7% in 2022) and now while sales in hypermarkets are falling ( 7.4% have a 43% representation. 29 percent in ‘online’ sales (Before the pandemic, this number was 25, during the epidemic it increased to 35).
As for geographical regions, although Catalonia and Madrid are currently at the same level in book sales (22.3% and 22.6% respectively), the former grew by 4% while the latter fell by 3%. Valencia and the Balearic Islands grew by 3%, while Galicia and the Basque Country fell.
Christmas and Kings
Regarding important moments of the year for the sector, as well as Sant Jordi in Catalonia, highest peak ever recorded Christmas and Kings. Other positive moments in sales are the ‘rental’ in September and the start of the summer vacation.
Other interesting data from the consultant reveal that: On average, we spend almost three hours a day connecting to the internet.: Before the pandemic, we were 165 minutes, 208 minutes in quarantine and in the pandemic, and it was 177 minutes in July of this year, most often it is noticeable in WhatsApp or Telegram messages.
Until July, 31% of the internet user population consulted information about the world of books, but November and December are the months with the highest number of consultations. He points out that the most visited sites belong to book experts.