Photo by Ravi Kant
“First European cultural industry”
The success of Turin confirms that the book market is holding up despite inflation that is slowing down family spending. Trade publishing (novels and non-fiction) is slightly down in terms of number of copies even though the average price of sales is increasing by 1.5%, and in any case much less than inflation which is at 5.7%.
In 2023, the average cover price of books purchased was 15.17 euros, up 1.5% compared to the previous year. In the 12 months, inflation was 5.7%. Between 2019 and 2023, the price of books sold grew by 2.6%, against a general growth in prices of 15.7%. Numbers that testify to the reduction in publishers’ profit margins, but also their effort to keep prices low so as not to depress the demand for books and reading in our country.
If we look at sales by genre, Italian fiction shows a growth of 7.2% compared to a decline of 3.6% in foreign fiction. Non-university manuals (i.e. how to do and self-help) grow by 4.7%, popular non-fiction by 4.6%, books for children and young adults by 1%. Specialist non-fiction is decreasing (-1.7%), as are comics (-10.6%, after the boom of 2021-2022).
Bookstores and physical channels in Italy are recovering ground. Physical bookstores are the main sales channel for books: 54.7% (53.5% in 2022) of the entire trade market in 2023 passes through here, more than one percentage point from the previous year but 10 points below pre-pandemic values. Online stands at 40.7% (41.9% in 2022), large-scale distribution stable at 4.6%.
Ebooks and audiobooks are growing, but Italians prefer paper. In 2023, e-book sales grew by 2.5%, reaching 81 million, and subscriptions for listening to audiobooks by 12%. But Italians for the most part continue to prefer paper: ebooks and audiobooks account for only 6% of a total market of 1,806 billion.
www.dueemmepack.it
by Massimiliano Marchesini
