International book markets make 'significant' gains in first half of 2021

International book markets have made significant gains in the first half of 2021, defying the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey carried out by charts and market research data supplier GfK Entertainment.

The survey showed a "significant increase" in sales both compared to the same period last year and the first six months of 2019, when no lockdowns were yet in place. GfK's research showed revenues increased by more than a third for some territories in the space of a year, with Brazil seeing an increase of 33.4% and Spain's rising 38.3%. Compared to two years previously, the growth was still 16.3% and 12.8% respectively. In Italy, growth compared to 2020 was around 36.8%, while in France it hit 43.4%.

However the 2021 sales curve has been slightly flatter so far in the Netherlands, at 4.3%. GfK said this is because many shops were forced to close temporarily, in contrast to the previous year. Germany was up 4.1% on 2020, but down 4.9% compared to 2019. The Swiss book market ended the first six months 11.1% higher than the same time last year, while Portugal and Belgium’s Flanders and Wallonia regions reported increases of 18.9%, 16.8% and 33.8% respectively.

The study also showed that sales trends were spurred by higher prices. Although sales showed positive growth for the most part, growth rates were lower than for turnover in eight of the nine regions surveyed.

Non-fiction also outpaced fiction. Popular works by politicians such as Barack Obama, Philippe De Villiers and Giorgia Meloni were in demand, as well as cookbooks, lifestyle books, financial guides and feminism titles. The Missing Sister (Macmillan) by bestselling author Lucinda Riley, who died in June, was the bestselling novel in Switzerland, Flanders and the Netherlands.

Comics, including manga, were the fastest growing product group in France, Italy and Spain, GfK found. The research company said this success may be partly down to government promotions, such as in France and Italy, where young adults who had turned 18 were given a voucher worth several hundred Euros that could be used for cultural purposes.

Video streaming is also continuing to have an impact on the book market, with the influence of hit series such as "Bridgerton" or "Lupin" helping books by Julia Quinn and Maurice Leblanc to gain increased attention in Belgium, France, Italy and Spain. The mini-series "The Queen's Gambit", which also appeared on Netflix, led to a run on games and chess manuals in Italy.

However there is a waning interest in e-books, GfK warned. Although sales of digital books were still in the black in Flanders and the Netherlands for 2020 as a whole, which saw an increase of 16.5%, and 12.7% respectively compared to 2019, the figures for the first half of 2021 were down by 3.6% and 5.3% respectively compared to the first half of 2020. Switzerland and Spain also reported a drop. Nevertheless, sales of e-books in Germany are continuing their upward trend, increasing by 9.6%.

Data for Germany was based on consumer panel data, while information for all other countries came from trade panel data.