The global publishing industry in 2021: recovery from the pandemic
Preliminary release*
Data is key for publishers and authors to consider which titles will work, where and when. Data is key for policy makers to decide which industries to support and how. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will share the key findings from its latest Global Publishing Industry Report at Frankfurter Buchmesse. A discussion panel will follow with key stakeholders.
How does data serve the publishing industry?
Wednesday, 19 October 2022, 11 am
Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0, Room Europa at the Frankfurter Buchmesse exhibtion site)
With:
Kevin Fitzgerald, Director of Digital Outreach at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the International Publishers Association (IPA)
Débora Mundani, Author
Ronald Schild, CEO, MVB
Chair: Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives
Preliminary data collected from WIPO’s global survey of publishing activity shows that economic recovery in 2021 extended to the publishing industry: most countries reported higher revenue in 2021, following declines in the first year of the pandemic in 2020. Among the top publishing markets, the US (+13.6%), Italy (+12.2%), Japan (+7.5%), the UK (+5.1%) and Germany (+3.5%) registered considerable revenue growth. Trade sector revenue accounted for more than half of total revenue for most major markets, with educational sector revenue playing an outsized role in Brazil (61.4%), the Netherlands (63.4%) and Mexico (75.1%).
The trend towards digitization continued. Where comparable data are available, they suggest an increase in the share of revenue due to digital/audio formats – increasing, for example, by around five percentage points for Finland and Japan. At the same time, the share of online sales – amounting to more than 50% in the UK – seems to have stagnated, after a strong increase upon the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Along with an increase in industry revenue, most countries also reported an increase in the number of titles published, with France (+12.5%), Brazil (+10%), Italy (+7.3%) and Turkey (+6.9%) recording among the fastest growth.
The annual survey of the publishing industry is a collaboration between the World Intellectual Property Organization and the International Publishers Association (IPA), implemented in partnership with the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) and the Centro Regional para el Fomento del Libro en América Latina y el Caribe (CERLALC).
*Please note:
More complete survey results will be available in WIPO’s forthcoming World Intellectual Property Indicators 2022 report.