French book sales down 6%

French publishers’ sales were down 6% year-on-year for the first half of 2022, but remain 10% higher than the same period the year prior to the pandemic, reports the Bookseller.

French Publishers Association (SNE) director Pierre Dutilleul told the Bookseller: ‘We have no need to worry for the moment. It is very difficult to predict the result for the full year, but I would expect a slight drop from 2021, which is normal after such an exceptional year.’

SNE last week confirmed 2021’s ‘extraordinary’ sales figures, with revenue up 9.7% from 2019 and 12.4% from 2020 to a total of €3.01 billion (A$4.55b). Excluding school textbooks, 2021 sales were up 17.7% on the previous year. SNE stated the strong results from the past two years reflected the government’s recognition of bookshops as ‘essential trade’ during most of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The sales figures are gathered from publishing houses representing more than 650 imprints.

Category: International news