Close to three million books were sold in Portugal in the first three months of this year, which represents an increase of 5,8% compared to the same period in 2023, despite an average price increase of 1,8%.
According to the Portuguese Association of Publishers and Booksellers (APEL), in the first quarter of this year, around 2,961 million books were sold (2.960.939), 5,8% more than in the same period of 2023, which represented a financial gain of 42,26 million euros (42.260.298 euros), 7,6% more compared to the first three months of last year.
APEL was based on data made available by Gfk, an independent entity that audits and counts book sales throughout the year, which also reveals that the average price of the book, this year, between January and March, increased by 1,8% for 14,27 euros.
Regarding points of sale, 70,2% of books sold in the first quarter were sold through bookstores, while 29,8% were sold through hypermarkets. This is also reflected in the sales figures, as 79,5% of the total collected in the book market was shared by bookstores and 20,5% went to hypermarkets.
By category, the most sought after genre was children's literature, with the highest number of units sold - 35,3% of the total -, at an average price of 11,03 euros, which contributed 27,3% to the total financial income. , below revenue from fiction and non-fiction sales.
In second place, in terms of units sold, is fiction, with a weight of 31,0% of the market, at an average price of 16,40 euros per book, achieving a value corresponding to 35,6% of total sales .
Non-fiction books, which represent 30,1% of units sold in this period, at an average price of 17,12 euros, obtain 36,1% of the total sales value, which corresponds to the largest 'slice' of the 42,26, XNUMX million euros from the market in this period.
The least representative genre – campaigns and exclusives – contributed 3,6% in the number of units sold, 1% of the final value determined, with the average price of these publications being around 4,03 euros.
In the first quarter of 2023, 2,8 million books were sold, for an overall market value, in that period, of 39,31 million euros.
In total for the year 2023, book sales in Portugal grew 5% in value, compared to 2022, driven mainly by younger age groups and social networks, maintaining the growth trend recorded in the previous two years, although less pronounced .
The results of the first three months lead APEL to state “the year begins with a quarter of positive developments, suggesting cautious optimism” for 2024.
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