The UK book publishing industry is in rude health according to data released by the Publishers’ Association. And despite the growth for digital formats, print remains king the state of the book nation report, A Year in Publishing, says.
The headline figure is that publishing was worth £6.9 billion to the UK in 2022, a rise of 4% over 2021 and print is worth more half the total. This is also the largest overall level recorded despite ongoing pressures from economic pressures, war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis.
UK book publishers spent £3.8 billion on print. a rise of 3%, amounting to 669 million volumes. Digital, across all non print formats, rose 5% to $3.1 billion.
The growth came from consumer books, fiction in particular, rather than from educational or academic sectors. Academic publishing is also the sector which is dominated by digital. Of overall revenue of £3.5 billion, £2.6 billion is generated by digital formats with less than £1 billion coming from printed books and journals. It is also a sector where exports dominate: £2.5 billion stems from exports. The academic sector grew 3% in the year, with the digital side rising 5% compared to a 4% decline in print sales across both books and journals.
Spending on print in the wider education market increased, though driven by exports than by a constrained home market. Print remains key with sales of £539 million, a 17% rise, of a market that is worth £634 million to UK publishers.
However, not all resulted in orders for UK printers during the year as many publishers were calling on stock that had been built up in previous years.
The export market grew 26% to reach £440 million compared to a decline of 2% to £194 million for the home market. The top three export markets, Spain, UAE and Egypt, all grew during the year.
Consumer publishing is comfortably the largest sector for UK publishing, amounting to £2.3 billion, led by a 13% rise in exports to £825 million. Despite fears that Kindles and other ereaders would sweep aside print, print easily rules the sector with sales of £1.8 billion, four times larger than digital sales of £423 million.
Fiction accounts for sales of £797 million, a 9% rise; non fiction delivers £1 billion, a 2% fall; children’s books were 1% up at £429 million while audio downloads increased by 8% to £164 million. The report comments: “Print remains king overall, with increases of sales for this format driven by the expert market.”
