Pearson remains world’s biggest publisher in 2016

Pearson has retained the top spot in the Global Ranking of the Publishing Industry for the ninth year in a row, reports the Bookseller.

The annual Livres Hebdo/Bookseller list, compiled by Rüdiger Wischenbart Content and Consulting, has Pearson comfortably in the lead despite a drop in revenue from €6.07bn (A$9.13bn) in 2015 to €5.31bn (A$7.99bn) in 2016.

Following Pearson in the top five are RELX Group (formerly Reed Elsevier), ThomsonReuters, Bertelsmann (which includes Penguin Random House and a newly created education division) and Wolters Kluwer.

One of the new entrants in the top 10 is Springer Nature, following the completion of a merger between Springer Science + Business and Macmillan Science and Education in May 2015.

This year’s ranking does not include Chinese publishers, as the Chinese government has discouraged Chinese publishers from participating in a ranking system that only measures economic criteria, according to the Bookseller. The list also excludes Disney, as the company does not report revenue specifically for its publishing business.

The exclusion of the Chinese companies has seen the total revenue of the top 50 publishers decline from €63.7bn (A$95.8bn) in 2015 to €53.5bn (A$80.4bn) in 2016. The top 10 publishers earned €30.2bn (A$45.4bn) or 56% of the top 50’s revenue, a share that has remained relatively consistent since rankings began.

Category: International news