Between April and June of this year, more than 2.7 million books were sold in Portugal, which represents an increase of 17.6% compared to the same period in 2021, the Portuguese Association of Publishers and Booksellers revealed this Friday ( MANZANA).
According to APEL, which uses data provided by the consulting firm GfK, in the second quarter of 2022 2,780,308 books were soldcorresponding to a cash inflow of 37.4 million euros.
In terms of sales, these 37.4 million euros represent an increase of 19% compared to the second quarter of 2021.
Between April and June, the average price of the book stood at 13.46 euros, that is, 1.2% more expensive than in the same period of 2021.
In the second quarter of this year, 2,478 new books entered the market.
Regarding points of sale, 68.8% of the books sold in the first quarter were sold in bookstores, while only 31.2% were in hypermarkets. This is also reflected in the sales figures, since 77.8% of the total went to bookstores and 22.2% to hypermarkets.
According to APEL, in terms of copies, the best-selling books in the second quarter were children’s and youth literature, representing 36% of the total of 2.7 million units, followed by fiction books (30.7%), non-fiction (29.7%). ) and campaigns/exclusives (3.6%).
However, in terms of sales, non-fiction books represented the largest share of revenue, with 36.4% of the total of 37.4 million euros, followed by fiction (35%), children’s-youth literature ( 27.6%) and campaigns/exclusives (0.9%).
On average, a non-fiction book had a sale price of €16.51, fiction €15.36, children’s books €10.33 and campaigns/exclusives €3.44.
GfK is an independent entity and audits and accounts for book sales throughout the year.
According to the consultancy, in 2021 book sales in Portugal grew by 16.6% compared to 2020, which placed the country among those that increased the most, among the nine countries covered by a study on the evolution of the book market: Germany , Belgium (Flanders, Wallonia), Brazil, Spain, France, Holland, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland.
This study also already showed a trend in relation to the chosen genres, which these data revealed today seem to confirm.
A “non-negligible proportion” of the increase in global sales in the market was due to the “boom” of comics, mainly manga and “manhwas”, which is “unstoppable” and had one of the highest sales “peaks” in Portugal . .
Two consecutive years marked by the pandemic were also reflected in the choice of titles by readers, with a significant increase in the demand for non-fiction books and guides on health, advice on life-related topics, psychology and topics esoteric.
In two-thirds of the countries surveyed, children’s books recorded increases even greater than the book market as a whole. Portugal was one of those cases, with an increase in income of more than 21% in this literary segment.
Source: Observadora
