The year 2024, according to all the indicators available to date, will not be the most memorable for the book industry. A few days ago, the National Publishing Union, through its president Vincent Montagne (Média-Participations), said:a decline of 3% in volume» sales. “A trend already observed in 2023, but which is increasing. Obviously, there are exceptions and great successes, particularly in literature», he clarified.
Without getting too far ahead, the decline will undoubtedly be less, concerning sales in value: even if the inflation trend has subsided somewhat, its effects will probably still be noticeable over the past year. With this surprising consequence: despite lower sales, in number of copies, total turnover could increase.
March, a promising month in 2024
Statistics from the Banque de France provide some additional indicators to frame the book economy in 2024. From its regional network, the institution surveys the retail trade and the sales it records.
Each month corresponds to an evolution in sales compared to the previous one: thus, January 2024 saw a slight drop in book purchases, at -0.4% (after +0.81% in December 2023). The start of the year then picks up again, with growth of 1.54% in February followed by the performance of March, with + 4.18%.
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However, the backlash was painful from April, with a decline of -4.72%, a phenomenon which also corresponds to the estimates of our partner Edistat, who saw April as the worst month of 2024 for books. May does not raise the level, with -1.6%, while June offers a small +0.81%. July is even more timid, with an improvement of 0.08%, before an impressive decline in August, of -2.38%.
-The last part of the year opens with the literary season, which benefits from sales growth of 1.34% in September, which continues in October (+ 0.19%). November fell again (-0.76%), before the expected surge in December, for the end-of-year holidays (+1.58%).
Complete statistics are available at this address.
Photography: illustration, ActuaLitté, CC BY SA 2.0
By Antoine Oury
Contact : [email protected]
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