According to Prime, the book market in Italy is in decline give AIE (Association of Italian Publishers) for 2024. During the first three months of the year, various Italian publishing, i.e. novels and essays sold in physical and online bookstores and in mass distribution , has recorded a decrease compared to the first three months of 2023.
This represents growth of 4.1% in value, with sales at the cover price of €357.2 million. Concerning copies, the drop was 4.8%, with sales of 23 million copies. Compared to the first three months of 2019, the reference for the pre-pandemic period, the increase is on the contrary 16.5% in value and 13.1% in copies. If we look at the percentages, miscellaneous publishing decreased by -2.2% compared to the data for the first months of 2023, but still recorded strong growth compared to 2019: 15.1%.
The figures were published at the IEA conference in Turin Book Fair; These are data reprocessed by the research office of the Italian Association of Publishers (AIE) on the basis of Nielsen BookScan surveys, updated monthly and available online on the Studies and Research page of the website of the IEA. According to the president of the AIE, Innocenzo Cipolletta, this indicates that “Italian publishing is a solid industry which has largely stabilized its post-pandemic growth”, but which still presents elements of fragility: “we will understand in the coming months if the negative signs that we see in this situation the first part of the year will be expanded, and to what extent, by the disappearance or modification of measures to support demand such as the special fund for libraries and Culture Cards and Merit” adds Cipoletta “certainly our country remains a country where we still read too little and which is characterized by strong inequalities in reading rates, particularly between the North and the South, a subject on which public intervention strength is necessary.”
Bookstore sales increase
According to the IEA survey, the libraries physicals occupy the first position as a sales channel, with a share of 54.8% of total sales, compared to a minimum of 49.6% reached in 2021 (they were at 65.9% in 2019). Large organized distribution continues its decline and is now at 4.5%.
The success of Italian authors
Another interesting fact, which goes against the market average, is the success of Italian novels. Of 445.3 million euros in sales at sale prices in physical and digital bookstores (excluding mass distribution), 250.2 million come from the sale of books by Italian authors (+1.3% compared to 2023) , 195.1 million euros are intended for books. by foreign authors (-5.6%). Italian fiction increased by 8% and foreign fiction by 3.1%. Books for children and adolescents decreased by 3.1%, textbooks by 3.9%, specialist non-fiction by 4.1%, general and popular non-fiction by 5.7% and non-fiction by 11.1% (which however increased by 161.8% compared to 2014). to 2019).
The success of Italian novel authors
The figures for novels are significant: books written by Italian authors increased by 48.7%, reaching 52.6% of the total, while sales of foreign authors decreased (-15.5%). Overall, romance increases by 9.3%.
The ten best-selling titles of 2024 (January 1 – April 20)
1. The horizon of the nightG. Carofiglio, Einaudi (February 2024)
2. A savage animalJ. Dicker, The Ship of Theseus (March 2024)
3. To give lifeM. Murgia, Rizzoli (January 2024)
4. All the details in the newsA. Manzini, Mondadori (January 2024)
5. The postmanF. Giannone, North (January 2023)
6. Between silence and thunderR. Vecchioni, Einaudi (February 2024)
7. Dear Giulia. What I learned…G. Cecchettin, M. Franzoso, Rizzoli (March 2024)
8. Endless Love. Love me love meStefania S., Sperling & Kupfer (February 2024)
9. Black HeartS. Avallone, Rizzoli (January 2024)
ten. Israel and the Palestinians in briefMr. Travaglio, PaperFIRST (November 2023)