In its final report devoted to the flow of graphic products in France, the Ecological Transition Agency reserves a small part of its examination for the book sector. To report movements within the latter, the agency relied on data provided by the National Publishing Union, consistent with that provided by the customs services.
As a preamble, ADEME notes the specificities of the book market and book production in France, noting for example the “very significant gap between the number of books produced by publishers and the number of books sold on the French market ».
In a market based on a logic of supply (a large number of titles are placed on the market each year, 36,819 in 2023 according to the SNE), a certain number of references do not meet their audience, or not in ideal proportions .
These unsold references are not, however, systematically removed from the market: “[L]The difference between the production and sale of books increases the stocks of distributors paid by publishing houses to keep books for periods that can exceed a decade», recalls ADEME. According to the SNE, more than a billion copies are currently in stock.
Some of these returned works are nevertheless destroyed: 13% of the volume of books in the “Go” flow were thus destroyed over the period 2021-2022, according to the SNE. Which still represented, still over this period, 25,000 tonnes of books out of the 36,900 tonnes of unsold books, or 67% of the returned works… In 2023, 25,000 tonnes of books would have been shelled, or 60% of the together, namely 41,000 tonnes of returned books.
No more unsold books
ADEME, based on SNE data, notes an increase in the rate of unsold goods in 2023, estimated at 22%, when it had fallen to 19.3% over the period 2021-2022. The agency specifies, however, that “the rate of return from points of sale to wholesalers was actually around 21% of annual production, according to the SNE, but it is partially offset by sales from inventory ».
The issue of unsold books is at the heart of multiple discussions initiated by the book sector, in particular by publishers and booksellers. The latter point to an overly dense production of new products, and call for reductions in production rates, evoking “overproduction that harms diversity», as pointed out by Anne Martelle, president of the French Bookstore Union, in our columns.
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As for publishers, independent structures are faced with the same problem, since the large production of new releases makes it difficult for them to find a place in bookstores. The largest structures, in particular those integrated into industrial groups, ensure that the publication rates have been considerably slowed down…
A general look confirms this: in 2023, the production of French publishers decreased, with 36,819 new releases (- 5% compared to 2022) and 457 million copies produced during the year, new releases and reprints combined. However, this slight decline in production would remain insufficient to ensure the good health of the book chain, many players point out.
To reduce the rate of unsold books, the National Publishing Union is working on a tool, Filéas (for Booksellers, publishers, authors information threads), which would make it possible to better monitor book sales and thus adjust production and diffusion. Its availability should occur in 2025.
Thicker books
ADEME reports declining production, with 456.3 million copies produced in 2023, a figure that the SNE had rounded to 457 million in its own report, compared to 536 million copies in 2022. Amusing detail, the average weight in grams of books produced increases, from 384 g to 408 g in 2023. Fewer books come off the presses, therefore, but they would be thicker…
ADEME notes a particularity of the sector, the “very high negative balance of foreign trade“, which the agency explains by “publishing houses relying heavily on printers located outside the borders ».
The tonnage of paper used by the sector is also down in 2023, by -2%, to 195,300 tonnes. This is the first decline observed since the year of the pandemic, in 2020 (-10.9% during this exceptional period), and this level has never been seen for more than a decade. For comparison, in 2011, the annual tonnage implemented amounted to 279,000 tonnes.
The full study is accessible at this address.
Photography: Interforum warehouse (Editis), Tigery site (illustration, ActuaLitté, CC BY SA 2.0)
By Antoine Oury
Contact : [email protected]
