German book market slightly down in 2022

Sales of books in Germany fell 1.9% in 2022 compared to the previous year, reports Publishing Perspectives.

Germany’s publishers and booksellers association, Börsenverein, reported that turnover for the year totalled €9.4 billion (A$15.3b) in 2022. Physical bookshops—the largest sales channel for books in Germany—increased their sales by 5%. However, compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, revenue from physical shops was down 7.9%. Sales from online shops fell 12.6% in value in 2022, but sales were still 22.8% greater than in 2019.

Börsenverein attributed the overall dip in turnover to three factors: the pandemic, supply-chain problems and a consumer slump.

Translation rights sales were also down in 2022, with German publishers selling 14.4% fewer book licences abroad than in the previous year. Börsenverein said this is a direct consequence of ‘the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine’, with Russia previously a ‘major buyer’ of German books, especially of books for children and young adults. The number of licence deals with China also fell, due to major restrictions in the market in 2022.

Börsenverein managing director Peter Kraus vom Cleff said 2022 ‘was marked by procurement bottlenecks, an immense increase in manufacturing and energy costs, and high inflation.’

‘The pandemic has also accelerated the process of inner-city desolation,’ Kraus vom Cleff said. ‘The situation is recovering only slowly or hardly at all. Many companies in our industry are working at their limit economically. Small publishing houses in particular, whose titles lost out during the pandemic to well-known authors and bestsellers, are suffering huge losses while costs remain high.

‘It’s therefore crucial that politicians now quickly implement the support for publishers that they promised in the coalition agreement. In addition, we need viable concepts and initiatives to revive the footfall in cities and municipalities.’

Category: International news