| It added its sixth consecutive year of growth, reaching its turnover at 2,420.64 million euros | The digital book registered a slight increase in its turnover to 119.13 million euros, 0.1% more than in 2018.
The number of titles published increased by 12.3% compared to 2018, to 21,607.All the subsegments of the edition registered increases in their turnover during 2019: Fiction (+ 1.8%), Children and Youth (+ 2.9%), textbooks (3.3%), non-fiction (+1, 8%), comics, comics and graphic novels (+ 0.5%)The president of the FGEE, Miguel Barrero, recalls that "since the pandemic began we have called on the Government and Political Parties to come together to develop a Pact for the Book and reading that, now, we see more necessary than ever with measures that allow Spain to become a country of readers and also ensure the survival of the country's most important cultural industry ".Editorial production of titles on paper reached 82,347 titles (60,740 on paper and 21,607 on digital), which represents an increase of 8.1% over the previous year (6.6% more on paper and 12.3% more in digital format).
The average circulation increased slightly, 0.4%.
It stood at 3,779 copies per title.
The average price stood at 14.15 euros.Sales of pocket books continued to grow to reach 94.66 million euros, with an increase in titles published and copies sold.Bookstores and bookstore chains continue to be the main distribution channels for books, accounting for 53.4% ??of sales.
Internet sales also grew.The Spanish publishing sector registered in 2019 its sixth consecutive year of growth.
According to the progress of the 2019 Domestic Trade report, in the year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sector improved its figures by 2.4%, to 2,420.64 million euros.
A percentage that maintains a line similar to that registered in previous years."These figures reflect how the sector had been recovering since 2014 the pulse lost after the economic crisis of 2008.
Now, we are again facing a crisis derived from a health pandemic that meant the paralysis of an important part of the sector's activity such as a consequence of the measures adopted to face the health crisis.
Although there has been a recovery during the second third of the year, we will have to wait until the end of the year to see what effect it has on sales in the sector, "said Miguel Barrero, president of the Federation of Publishers of Spain and of the Association of Chambers of the Book of Spain.
"Since the pandemic began, we have called on the Government and Political Parties to unite to develop a Pact for the Book and reading that, now,We see it more necessary than ever with measures that make it possible to turn Spain into a country of readers and, furthermore, ensure the survival of the country's most important cultural industry ".The progress of the Report on Internal Trade of the Book prepared by the Federation of Publishers Guilds of Spain, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, shows that, in 2019, 162.22 million copies were sold on paper, a 0.8% more than in 2018, and 12.73 million downloads of digital copies, 1.1% less than in the previous year.
In addition, 82,347 titles were published (60,740 on paper and 21,607 on digital), which represents an increase of 8.1% over the previous year (6.6% more on paper and 12.3% more on digital format).
The average price of the copy stood at 14.15 euros, on paper, and 9.36 euros in digital format.A relevant element is that the increase in turnover occurred in all the book subsectors, although, in the educational content (non-university textbooks) the increase was slightly higher, 3.3%.
Regarding literary genres, they grew both in adults and children, 1.8 and 2.9 percent.
The growth of the rest of categories was, in the case of books on law and economics, (+ 0.7%) scientific-technical and university (+ 0.8%); those of social sciences and humanities (+ 3.1%), practical books (4.1%), general popularization, (+ 1.2%,), religious (+ 1.8%), comics, comics and graphic novels (+ 0.5%). It should be noted that billing is mainly concentrated in companies in Barcelona (50.4%) and Madrid (42.9%) that account for 93.3% of the total.
By size, very large companies had a turnover of 39.4%, in a line similar to that of previous years, the rest of the turnover was distributed by medium-sized (24.5%), large (22.6%) and small companies (13.5%), which maintain their weight compared to last year.Digital book sales remain steadySales of digital books remain at the figures of 2018 with a slight increase of 0.1%, following the trend already registered in previous years in which the turnover has been maintained without major changes.
In 2019, it reached 119.13 million euros, which represents 5 percent of global turnover.
Regarding the number of titles published, there was an increase of 12.3% compared to 2018, to 21,607, 12.3% more than in 2018.
The number of titles marketed also increased, which stood at 182,108 .
This goes to show that the sector continues to bet on this format.
The turnover for fiction titles reached 24 million euros, a slight increase of 0.5%.
There was also a rise in sales of children's and young people's literature, with an increase of 2,2% up to 5.83 million euros.
However, the greatest weight of digital book billing continues to be in non-fiction titles (62.85 million euros), especially law books and databases.
Digital textbook sales grew by 1.3%, to 26.07 million euros."After a few years in which there was a gradual increase in the invoicing of digital books, a slowdown in the growth of these formats has been observed.
This has also occurred in other markets in our environment.
It remains to be seen whether, at the end of the year , it is possible to see if there has been a confinement effect and the reduction in VAT of the digital book approved in the second quarter has an effect on billing.
The sector continues to bet on this format as evidenced by the fact that the catalog continues to increase year after year However, the piracy effect continues to have an important impact, as has been confirmed by the Observatory of piracy and consumption habits of digital content, "said the president of the FGEE.In terms of distribution channels, most of the copies of books in digital format were sold through specific digital distribution platforms.
Generic trading platforms and other platforms sold digital books worth 54.2 million euros.
Through platforms created by the publisher itself, 34.0 million euros in digital books were sold, 28.5%.
The joint platforms created with other publishers sold 3.4% (4.0 million euros).The pocket bookSales of pocket-size books increased by 1.4%, a growth percentage similar to that registered in 2018, to 94.66 million euros.
The number of titles published also increased by 2.2% to 4,766.
12.7 million copies were sold, 2.8% more.
The number of copies sold was 12.39 million copies.
The average price of books in this format reached 7.44 euros, nine cents less than in 2019.
In the last three years, the decrease in the average price of pocket books has been reduced by 45 cents.Distribution channelsBookstores and bookstore chains remain the main book sales channels.
Both add up to 1,294.59 million euros, 53.4% ??of the total turnover.
The sale of books in bookstores grew by 1.4%, while the bookstore chains increased their sales by 6.9%.
"The publishing sector has always considered bookstores as an essential link in the chain of the book sector.
They are in charge of establishing a link between books, authors and books.
For this reason, during the pandemic we have reinforced our link with booksellers and distributors betting on a way out of the crisis in which no one in the sector is left behind or ends up disappearing, a risk that would not only affect the economy but also culture, "said Miguel Barrero.Sales in the rest of the channels, especially in the sales of paper books over the Internet, whose increase was 7.6%, similar to last year.
