Book trade in German-speaking Switzerland records lower sales in 2022
In 2022, sales at bookstores in German-speaking Switzerland and in online retail fell by a full 3.6 percent. The Christmas shopping season, in particular, put a damper on sales.
As a rule, there are plenty of books under the Christmas trees. For the book trade, December is traditionally the month that brightens the annual balance sheets. But in 2022, that was not the case: Compared to December 2021, sales in bookstores as well as in online stores fell by a total of 9.8 percent, according to the Swiss Booksellers and Publishers Association (SBVV) on Thursday.
The balance sheet for December looks even bleaker when price increases are factored out. The volume of books sold slumped by 11.7 percent. This is "drastic" for the industry, wrote the SBCV.
The association highlights sales of non-fiction books, which were low throughout the year and even fell by 13.1 percent in December. The most important product group, fiction, also recorded a drop of 8.9 percent in December.
Increase in paper, energy and transport prices
The industry is being squeezed by inflation, it said. Publishers in particular are "burdened by the enormous increase in paper, energy and transport prices. Book prices rose by an average of 0.4 percent throughout last year, and by as much as 2.2 percent in December compared to the same month last year. But the annual inflation of just under three percent in Switzerland only partially compensates for the higher book prices.
GfK Entertertainment collected the figures as part of its industry monitor book, which is commissioned by SBCV. SBCV plans to publish the detailed market report at the end of February.
