The Gremi d'Editors de Catalunya expects to close this 2022 with figures slightly higher than last year, when it took in 2.5 billion euros, a figure that made it the best year of the last decade. The pandemic and confinement stimulated reading, a trend that has continued as the months have passed and restrictions have declined. Pending the Christmas campaign, the sector's turnover is expected to grow by 2% this year, consolidating a market 20% larger than in 2019.
This year, in addition, the guild has detected that readers have returned to bookstores, according to its president, Patrici Tixis, recovering the ground lost to e-commerce during the health crisis. Thus, 70% of books have been sold in person and 23% through online platforms, a proportion that has decreased compared to 2019, when it was 30%. The remaining 7% corresponds to e-books, registering a small growth compared to pre-pandemic figures and with audiobooks gaining weight.
The good pace achieved by the book sector with covid has been maintained especially in the first half of this 2022, but, from September, the deceleration that is occurring in the rest of the economy has been transferred. "It has started to be noticed, but not with enough force to break the trend we were on," Tixis defends. However, given the generalized price increase, publishers have also replicated it, but they have done so to a lesser extent compared to other products, applying an average increase of 3% ---about 30 and 40 cents---.
To the economic situation, the problems of book distribution that have occurred since the end of summer due to the merger of Àgora and Les Punxes have been added. The union in Entredos Logístics has caused delays in the shipment of copies to bookstores, producing considerable losses for some publishers.
Nevertheless, the guild, which represents more than 370 publishing houses, defends that it faces the new scenario of uncertainty "in good health and in full form." Not only are they well prepared by the growth the sector has experienced and the return to bookstores, but the fact that more and more young people are reading also plays in their favor. If the reading index stands at 64% for the general population, it rises to 77% for people aged between 15 and 18. Social networks like TikTok and platforms like Wattpad are awakening their desire to read, with a significant focus on comics, especially manga. The pull of styles like this will be seen, precisely, at the Manga Fair which, for the first time, will be held this year at the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona and not at Montjuïc, thus gaining space, in line with the growth that these types of books are registering.
Nit de l'Edició
This Monday, the Nit de l'Edició, the annual meeting of the publishing sector, was held at the Teatre Romea. The Gremi d'Editors awarded the Premi Atlàntida, which recognizes a personality who has stood out for the defense of books and reading, to actor and theater director Josep Maria Pou. The Fernando Lara Memorial was also awarded to the Flamboyant publishing house, in the category of best young business initiative in the world of books, and the Ángel Crespo Translation Award to Pablo Martín Sánchez, for his translation of La anomalía by Hervé Le Tellier, published by Seix Barral. Publishing houses celebrating round anniversaries were also honored this Monday night. Editorial Salvatella celebrated its 100 years of continuous activity; Editorial Reverté, its 75 years; Editorial Base and the Centre de Pastoral Litúrgica, their 50 years, and Ediciones Cáñamo, its 25 years.