Global book report highlights growing book prices

A new Nielsen BookData-GfK study of the global book market has found that publishing revenue and book prices grew in many countries in 2023, reports Publishing Perspectives.

The Global Book Market 2023 report covers 16 markets: Australia, Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Brazil, Colombia, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Twelve of the markets recorded revenue growth in 2023, including eight in Europe. The markets that saw the largest gains were Mexico (up 11.4%), India (up 7.1%), Belgium/Flanders (up 9.4%) and Portugal (up 7%). Australia (down 2.1%) and New Zealand (down 5.4%) were joined by Belgium/Wallonia (-1.2%) and Switzerland (-1.3%) as markets where revenue fell.

By unit, sales were down most significantly in South Africa (-7.7%), New Zealand (-7.5%), Belgium/Wallonia (-5.9%) and Brazil (-5.7%), and up only in Mexico (5.6%), Portugal (3.6%), India (3.5%), Belgium/Flanders (2.2%) and Italy (0.9%).

In nine of the 16 markets, average book prices were ‘significantly up’, including growth of 9.6% in South Africa, 7.7% in Brazil and 6.6% in the UK. Only Australia (down 0.4%) registered a drop in prices.

Travel guides and health books saw double-digit growth rates in almost half the markets analysed, while Prince Harry’s Spare was the bestselling nonfiction book in five of the markets.

Category: International news