FEP estimates European publishing turnover at €22.3bn in 2015

The Federation of European Publishers (FEP) has reported a small increase in total annual sales revenue for book publishers in Europe, based on a survey with 28 national book publishing associations in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), up from €22bn in 2014 to €22.3bn in 2015 (net turnover). 

The picture is "mixed" for publishing across Europe though, the trade body said, with several markets recording a lower turnover than in 2014. Exports "remained strong" last year though, the FEP said, contributing to an increase in revenues.

The largest publishing markets in terms of publishers’ turnover were Germany, the UK, France, Spain and Italy. The total market value has been estimated at €36-38bn. 

The e-book market, accounting for around 5-6% of the total, showed "signs of stagnation", it said.

The FEP reported a "signficiant increase" in title ouput from its previous survey, with 575,000 new titles issued by publishers in 2015 at a conservative estimate (because figures were drawn from different sources, some of which included new editions and non-commercial titles). Countries reporting the largest new titles output were the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. 

Its data showed levels of employment remained at "basically the same level" as in 2014, although conceded it was "difficult to gather reliable data" for this. It estimated 125,000 people were employed full time in book publishing in 2015 and the entire book value chain, including authors, booksellers, printers, designers, employs more than half a million people.