It is the largest increase of the century, to 2,576 million euros, although the figures are still below 3,200 million from before the financial crisis of 2008.
Good news for the book market in our country. The sector’s turnover grew by 5.6% in 2021 compared to 2020 to 2,576 million euros, of which 2,432 million for paper sales (+5.5%) and 134 million for digital sales (+6.8). As the average price of books on paper has remained virtually unchanged at 14 euros, the increase was due to the increase in the number of copies sold, which grew by 5.9% to 174.10 million copies. In contrast, digital sales only grew by 1.7%, so the increase in sales was more due to the fact that the price of the digital book went from an average of 9.5 to 10 euros. For example, 94.8% of the trading volume corresponds to the paper edition and 5.2% to the digital edition.
“The data is frankly good, if not extraordinary,” Daniel Fernández, president of the Federation of Publishing Guilds of Spain, explained this morning, attributing the good numbers to the fact that during the pandemic “citizens were reunited with the book and lecture .” Not in vain, the 2.4% increase in sales from the previous year already indicated where the shots were going. “What this study of the domestic book trade in Spain in 2021 tells us now is that this trend has not only consolidated, but has practically exploded. This 5.6% is the best growth rate of this century”, confirms Fernandez proudly. It is of course not the highest invoice amount. That corresponds to 2008, before the financial crisis broke out, where the peak was reached at around 3,200 million. “With the crisis, it fell and bottomed out in 2013. From then on, it increased by about 1.4% per year, but this growth is very good, although we have not yet recovered the level of 2008,” says Óscar Chicharro, responsible for preparing the report.
For its development, they gathered information from 778 private and union companies with a catalog of 794,823 books. One of the most interesting data from the survey is that 79,373 were published in Spain last year, 6.4% more than in 2020, of which 55,197 on paper (+8.9%) and 24,176, digital (+1.2%) ). These titles generated 198.13 million copies on paper, 9.3% more than in 2020.
Not all data is positive and it is that textbooks, although they account for 28.6% of the pie and have invoiced the not inconsiderable amount of 736 million euros, in terms of turnover per subject, have decreased by 3.8% compared to the previous year. Chicharro gives a statement: “Lomloe has come in at the end of 2020 and there are autonomous communities that may have waited a little longer to renew the books.” It’s the only negative data and, as the president of the Federation of Publishing Guilds of Spain points out, “it doesn’t detract from the tremendous satisfaction to see parts of the publishing industry growing above double digits.” The children’s and youth novels grew last year by 17.8% to 432 million euros. “We are confident that we are educating new readers and therefore bridging the traditional gap in readership and reading rates that separated Spain from the most read and civilized countries in the EU,” Fernández says proudly. Adult fiction literature also grew by 8.2% to EUR 548 million. On the other hand, non-fiction books still make up the bulk of the whole pie (29.9%). They grew by 7.7% and had a turnover of 770 million euros. Finally, the survey also highlights the preferred locations where books are bought and, despite the pressure from online commerce, bookstores (35.2%) and bookstore chains (18.6%) together account for 54.4% of sales. remain the marketing channels that readers prefer.
The foreign trade figures in the book were less positive. The decline registered as a result of movement restrictions due to the pandemic in 2020 continued this year due to sales abroad in the graphics sector (43.88 million euros in 2021 compared to 51.18 in 2020). For example, worldwide exports decreased by 0.7% to 388.91 million euros, compared to 391.76 in 2020, although turnover in the publishing sector did increase, from 340 million in 2020 to 345, 1.3% more , as stated by the person responsible for this part of the investigation, Antonio María Ávila.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
