Turin, 10 May. (askanews) – The various publishing market marks a decline of 2.2% in the first 4 months of 2024 compared to the previous year, with 465.6 million euros in sales at cover price. The decline in copies was 3.5%, with 30.1 million copies sold. Compared to 2019, however, there was growth in value of 15.1% and in copies of 11.7%. These are some of the issues presented by the Italian Publishers Association at the Turin Book Fair. “The book situation in Italy – Innocenzo Cipolletta, president of the IEA, told askanews – is, from an economic point of view, in decline. This year we are 2-3 percentage points below in terms of turnover compared to last year.
From a trend point of view we are well above pre-COVID and therefore it means that we have consolidated in positive terms the advantage we had taken during COVID. However, we are concerned about this drop in 2024, because it is a drop that is associated with the failure of some measures that the government had approved in the past, in particular the 30 million for libraries and the 18 app which has been transformed into two new cards that are being tested and have also been defunded compared to the previous one. We therefore have some concerns for the future, but we note that ours is an industry with a trend of growth, strong in some elements, fragile because it is made up of many components, including small and medium-sized publishers who certainly have less strong shoulders to support a decline of demand as is happening at the moment”. According to the IEA, the basis for the minus sign is that publishers have different launch policies compared to 2023 and the decline in manga. And Cipolletta also addresses politics: “I believe that It is appropriate – concluded the AIE president – for the government to change the law on books to revive the entire book supply chain, from paper to books to bookshops to libraries and to support readers’ demand”. Right from the stage of the inauguration of the Turin exhibition the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano has reiterated his commitment to the law on the book, now the facts are awaited.
