France sees e-book leap

E-book sales seem to have finally taken off in France last year, even though at a more modest rate than the three-digit growth achieved in the United Kingdom and United States in the early stages of the market.

Quoting figures compiled by market research firm GfK, e-book sales in France rose by a brisk 29% in unit numbers and 24% in value in 2015, trade magazine Livres Hebdo reported. This meant that sales totalled €79.1m for 10.7m files downloaded, said Sébastien Rouault, head of GfK’s book panel.

Nonetheless, despite the much stronger sales increase than reported for print versions last year, e-books still represented only 1.9% in value and 2.9% in volume of total book sales.

France's 1981 Lang law enabling publishers to fix retail book prices was extended to e-books in 2011, and the VAT rate on e-books has been aligned to the 5.5% on print versions. Publishers’ policy on e-books includes retail prices averaging 30% lower than hardback versions and 20% higher than paperbacks.

“Publishers have seen what has happened in other countries, or in other sectors, and have been able to make themselves heard (by decision-makers) to obtain regulations that enable them to fine tune the market,” Rouault said.