Italian books trade slumping

The books market in Italy has “deteriorated significantly” in 2011 and the first nine months of 2012, with bricks and mortar retailers being hit the hardest, according to the Associazione Italiana Editori’s (AIE) report on the state of publishing in Italy.

AIE chair Marco Polillo presented the report at Frankfurt Book Fair yesterday (10th October). Overall, Italian book revenues shrunk 4.6% by value to just over €3.3bn in 2011, and 7.3% for the first nine months in 2012 year-on-year.

Both independent and chain bookstores saw sales drop 4.2% in 2011. In terms of market share, however, chains now account for 41.3% of the market (an increase from 36% in 2008), while indies now account for 37.9% of the Italian market, compared to 43.3%
in the report five years ago.

E-book sales were a bright spot, soaring 740% in 2011 versus the previous year. Yet with a turnover of about €12.6m, that represents just 0.9% of the entire market.