The number of published books and brochures has grown in Russia
The circulations of books and brochures published in Russia in the first quarter showed growth: in January -March they increased by 17%, to 77.5 million copies. Market participants note the growth of interest in book clubs and fairs, as well as the refusal of users from using electronic devices. As a result, companies hope that according to the results of the year, the volume of sales of books will grow again.
“Kommersant” got acquainted with the data of the Russian State Library (RSL; in 2023, the Russian Book Chamber became part of it) for the release of books and brochures. It follows that the total circulation of books and brochures in Russia according to the results of the first quarter amounted to 77.5 million copies, which is 17% higher than the same period last year (66.3 million). The number of new items has also grown – by 7.2% year by the year, up to 27 thousand units.
The circulation of published books in January -March increased by 11% and amounted to 58.4 million copies, brochures – by 42%, up to 19 million.
The number of printed new publications increased for a period by 21% in the circulation (58.9 million copies) and by 6% in names (24.4 thousand units). At the same time, reprints, on the contrary, prevail according to the names (an increase of the year by the year – 20.2%, up to 2.8 thousand units), but are inferior in circulation (5%, 18.5 million copies).
The leader of the market, according to the RSL, remains Eksmo Publishing House (3.1 thousand publications against 2.6 thousand in the first quarter of 2024), AST Publishing Group takes second place (2.6 thousand against 2.9 thousand units). It follows the Enlightenment group (the number of items remains unchanged – 1 thousand). In fourth place is the ABC-Atticus (972 units), the TOP-5 Petersburg publishing house « Lan » (732 units) closes.
Alexey Ilyin, CEO of Alpina, December 26, 2023 in an interview with Kommersant:
Removing a whole circulation from the sale resurrects income from the name, regardless of already incurred print expenses, etc.
At the same time, the data on the TOP-20 of the most published authors in the segments of art and children’s literature, information on the TOP-50 leading printing enterprises, as well as the release of translated literature were not given. The RSL specified that they brought abbreviated data, since they were not very correct to “analyze the quarter, and there is a seasonality of delivery of mandatory specimens.”
According to the results of the last year, the volume of the book market amounted to 98 billion rubles, increasing by 7% of the year by the year. The pace of his growth slowed down, because a year earlier the dynamics was another – 11%. In total, 233 million copies were sold during the period, that is, sales increased by only 1%. The prevailing distribution channel remain marketplaces (47%) and bookstores (25.8%), after – federal networks (offline, 11.9%). The circulations of published books and brochures began to grow again in January -December last year – by 10.3%, to 369.5 million copies, for the first time since the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine.
Alpine expects an increase in the volume of books of books this year, says Irina Antonova, marketing director of the group: “Both in connection with an increase in interest in certain book topics and a change in the consumer behavior of individual readers’ segments.” A similar forecast was given to Eksmo: the book market in the year can reach 107 billion rubles, increasing by 9% a year by the year. At the same time, the number of copies will be reduced by 3%, to 226 million, due to the growth of the cost of printing materials. Also publishers from the New Year Raised Product prices are 7-10%. In parallel, by the end of last year, the printing of the necessary equipment from China was faced by the end of last year, the deadlines have increased from a week to several months.
In addition, the cost of paper increased by 10-13% last year, Irina Antonova notes: “On the other hand, interaction with foreign copyright holders is increasingly complicated every year, therefore, the share of foreign authors in the publishing house is reduced (for example, in the Alpine Plisher – by 44% according to the results of 2024, while earlier by 30–35%)”. Despite this, Alpina sees an increase in interest in book clubs and specialized offline events. Another point of development for printed books is listed by Mrs. Antonova, this is the fatigue of people from gadgets and the growth of the popularity of practices in the spirit of Digital Detox (refusal to use electronic devices). Eksmo-Ast refused to comment on the results of the first quarter, Rosman did not respond to Kommersant’s request.
