
The president of the Affiliation of Italian Publishers Riccardo Franco Levi, left on the desk on stage, prepares his annual report on market statistics to the fortieth anniversary of Scuola per Librai Umberto e Elisabetta Mauri, seated within the Cini Basis’s Salone degli Arazzi on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice in San Giorgio Maggiore Island in Venice. Photograph: Views Publishing, Porter Anderson
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @worker
Levi: The Italian Publishing Home maintains and helps
as fortieth annual Scuola per Librai Umberto e Elisabetta Mauri– The “Faculty of Booksellers” in Morei, has reached its closing convention classes right this moment (January 27) on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, Italian Publishers Affiliation (Affiliation Italiana EditoriAIE) launched its promised detailed report for 2022 on the state of the Italian market.
Riccardo Franco Levipresident of each AIE and European Publishers Affiliation in Brussels Publication Views In regards to the “enormous investments” made by the Affiliation of Publishers within the subject of business statistical analysis.
He then proves this with an in depth and sleek report confirming that Italy ranks sixth within the guide publishing market on this planet after america, China, Germany, the UK and France, and the fourth largest in Europe, with the UK nonetheless thought-about a market in Europe.
One of the attention-grabbing high-level seems to be reveals us that Europe, together with the post-Brexit UK, accounts for 59 % of the worldwide market, with six of the ten publishing teams having European bases.

The 38.3 billion determine that you just see on this slide picture comes out to about 38 billion US {dollars}. Picture: Affiliation of Italian Publishers, AIE
Remember, in fact, that these teams embrace Penguin Random Home, whose guardian firm Bertelsmann, is third on this listing.
As offered for Our preview Of this fortieth version of the Morey Faculty Program, Levy’s acknowledged excessive factors included the next:
- In 2022, the Italian market skilled a lower in fictional and actual gross sales income of two.3 % in comparison with 2021. Nonetheless, when seen in comparison with 2019, these segments collectively grew by 13.1 %.
- By unit dimension, there was a lower of two.4 % in comparison with 2021 and an analogous achieve, 13.3 %, from 2019.
At this time’s most complete report included a number of highlights:
- E book gross sales made in bodily bookstores, on-line, and thru main retail chains bought 1.67 billion euros ($1.7 billion) at cowl value, 112.6 million copies, down barely (-2.3 %) over 2021 and 2019.
- In comparison with 2021, nevertheless, the 12 months earlier than the onset of the devastating disaster COVID-19 pandemic Within the case of the outbreak in Italy, that 12 months’s 2022 numbers put a powerful 13.1 % larger than 2019’s worth figures and 13.3 % larger in unit gross sales.

President of the Affiliation of Italian Publishers and the Affiliation of European Publishers Riccardo Franco Levi at his presentation 2023 Umberto and Elisabetta Mauri Faculty, hosted by journalist Giovanna Zucconi. Photograph: Views Publishing, Porter Anderson
“Italian publishing is holding collectively and holding collectively in comparison with earlier than the pandemic,” Levi advised the Morey Faculty viewers at a session hosted by journalist Giovanna Zucconi by which he offered AIE and Nielsen BookScan knowledge. However the market has to face new challenges.
“Confronted with double-digit inflation weighing closely on household budgets,” Levy mentioned, publishers saved guide cowl costs steady. However development in paper and vitality prices is drastically squeezing margins, placing probably the most fragile operators within the provide chain into disaster, akin to small publishers and impartial bookstores.
“These are issues that must be addressed now that the federal government and parliament put together to debate new insurance policies for the guide sector.”
Publication Views Readers already know One space by which such adjustments are progressing Meloni’s system has barely saved the nation’s progressive and broadly admired €500 ($531) youth app in Italy for this 12 months, however solely with a newly forked construction coming in 2024.
Audio books, e-books down

Whereas many who journey to Italy may consider its inventive and archaeological treasures, music, cinematic achievements, and even delicacies, the market’s enterprise, academic, tutorial {and professional} guide publishing business is in reality its main cultural sector by way of public spending, in response to the brand new report from AIE. Picture: Affiliation of Italian Publishers, AIE
In additional factors revealed by the aforementioned analysis right this moment:
- Audiobook subscription worth elevated from €24 million ($26 million) in 2021 to €25 million in 2022 ($27.1 million) in 2022, a rise of 4.2 %.
- Nonetheless, the e-book market fell 8 %, going from €86m to €79m ($93.3m to $85.7m).

Picture: Affiliation of Italian Publishers, AIE
- On-line and retail chains noticed gross sales decline, in response to the brand new report, in 2022, whereas bodily bookstores benefited barely, with gross sales of €889 million (US$964.4 million), a rise of 1 %. A lot of this modest development of bodily bookstores was seen in chain shops, practice stations and airports, benefiting from resumption of footfalls after lockdown.
- Publishers discovered this achieve couldn’t offset on-line gross sales, with digital channel gross sales down 5 % to 705 million euros ($764.5 million) and main retail chains falling an alarming 10 % to 77 million euros ($83.6 million). million US {dollars}).
Of specific notice are publishing business friends, audio system and executives from international markets exterior of Italy, as Levi and the Publishers Affiliation report seeing an attention-grabbing broadening of their guide market – a wholesome pattern for shoppers to assist extra choices from bestseller lists which may tempt them.
For instance, the 100 finest promoting titles in 2022 in Italy accounted for simply 8.1 % of whole market exercise in hardcover worth, and seven.1 % in unit gross sales.
- New releases in 2022 are up 8 % in comparison with 2019. Catalog choices jumped 18 % in 2022 in comparison with 2019 choices.
- As in most of the international markets that our worldwide specialization focuses on, in 2022 Italy noticed some declines on the whole non-fiction gross sales (8.6 %) {and professional} literary works headed for an additional decline (12.3 %), with fiction making comfy positive aspects ( 4.9 %).
- Within the fantasy numbers, it was decided that comics grew by a whopping 8.6 %, non-Italian literature by 7 %, and Italian literature by 4.9 %.

Picture: Affiliation of Italian Publishers, AIE
what are you watching

Picture: Affiliation of Italian Publishers, AIE
In a fast recap of the problems centering on Italian publishers in the beginning of 2o23, these issues are key:
- The impact of inflation and the rising value of residing on Italians’ spending
- Trade-wide, rising prices, paper and vitality, can considerably cut back margins and positioning
Significantly fragile operators akin to impartial bookstores and small publishers are in danger - The final path of the market is more and more depending on the choices made by the biggest participant out there
Retail sector - New guide insurance policies are into account by the brand new Georgia Meloni authorities and parliament
- The impression of piracy, particularly on non-fiction and industrial publishing
Publication Views She has extra protection forward than Scuola per Librai Umberto e Elisabetta Mauri, which featured an particularly robust listing of audio system and members this 12 months upon its return to a bodily manufacturing in Venice.
This protection may even, in fact, point out the profound impression of January 11, demise of Achilles Moreywho was central to this system’s first 39 years and was president of the Messaggerie Italiane group.
Extra perspective on publishing in Italy and its guide publishing business right here. Extra on Riccardo Franco Levi right hereExtra about promoting books right here And extra us on Scuola per Librai Umberto e Elisabetta Mauri is right here. Extra from us on the impression of the nonetheless ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – making this the primary time in three years that the UEM program has been in a position to take its common seat in Venice – is right here.