Books sales rise in Germany, but trade frets over declining readers

With sales increasing 2.6% to EUR4.05 bn (omitting shopping) physical bookstores regulated a 41.8% (2022: 41.9%) share of the overall industry turn over, remaining the biggest sales network for publications in Germany. Online publication sales– around half of which are attributable to the on the internet presence of physical booksellers– climbed 5.5% to EUR2.4 bn, converting into a market share of 24.8%. In a five-year contrast, on the internet profession is plainly benefiting from the increase obtained throughout the Covid pandemic: sales were up 29.5% on 2019, while brick-and-mortar stores were down 5.5% in the same duration.

Not surprisingly, the number of new publications released has actually declined once again in 2023, dropping 6.3% from 64,287 titles in 2022 to 60,230 last year. Still, the share of translated titles stayed mostly unmodified at 14.5% (2022: 14.6%).

In 2014’s sales increase is mostly credited to growth in four book groups, namely fiction, which grew by 7.7% and represented 35.5% of sales, youngsters’s books/YA (+2.5%), schoolbooks/learning (+5%) and non-fiction (+2.7%). The need for electronic books has actually levelled off at a relatively reduced but steady degree after a walk during the pandemic. At 3m, the number of purchasers of digital books in the consumer market (omitting school and referral books) has continued to be on par with 2022.

According to Kraus vom Cleff, both on-line booksellers and brick-and-mortar book shops expanded their companies in 2023. With sales rising 2.6% to EUR4.05 bn (excluding e-commerce) physical book shops regulated a 41.8% (2022: 41.9%) share of the overall industry turnover, remaining the largest sales channel for books in Germany. On-line book sales– around half of which are attributable to the on-line presence of physical booksellers– rose 5.5% to EUR2.4 bn, equating into a market share of 24.8%. In a five-year comparison, on-line profession is clearly taking advantage of the boost gained throughout the Covid pandemic: sales were up 29.5% on 2019, while brick-and-mortar shops were down 5.5% in the same period.

Kraus vom Cleff reported the newest offered figures for 2024 if proof were needed that the industry is under pressure. While sales were up by 1.2% in the very first six months, alarm bells are calling due to the fact that this growth was only accomplished through book prices climbing by 2.8%, which translates right into a real sales decline of 1.6%.

Assessing the marketplace problems, Kraus vom Cleff yielded that the basic economic scenario was still putting publication merchants, publishers and industry logistics under pressure. “Sales are dropping generally, and the number of consumers is continuing to decrease,” he stated, adding that because fewer individuals were heading right into the city centres to shop, the footfall in stores and in the high street was less than in the past.

Efforts such as the much-lauded KulturPass for 18-year-olds, which the priest of state for society released last year, have proven to be reliable, she claims. In spite of tight monetary pressures, she asks the federal government in Berlin to “definitely” preserve the KulturPass next year, at the exact same time asking for the budget plan to be enhanced once more to the original EUR200 after being cut in half to EUR100 in 2024.

Amongst one of the most uneasy developments in 2023, according to Kraus vom Cleff, stays the truth that the number of individuals acquiring publications continued its downward spiral to around 25m purchasers, around 800,000 much less than the year prior to (-2.8%). While this number is a renovation on 2022 (-5.2%) and 2021 (-4%), Börsenverein authorities remain to warn against “a large deficit in reading skills” that is becoming ever higher, according to chairwoman Karin Schmidt-Friderichs.

Last year’s sales boost is largely associated to growth in four book groups, specifically fiction, which expanded by 7.7% and accounted for 35.5% of sales, children’s books/YA (+2.5%), schoolbooks/learning (+5%) and non-fiction (+2.7%).

Reserve sales in Germany were up 2.8% to EUR9.7 bn in 2023, according to figures launched by the trade organization Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association). In spite of the positive general result, the sector has good reason to stay cautious in the face of persistently high prices and slow-moving customer costs, says taking care of director Peter Kraus vom Cleff.