French turnover on the up

French book publishers reported their second straight annual sales increase for the year 2000 after four years of decline.

Turnover for the 331 publishers surveyed by the French publishers' association, the Syndicat National de l'Edition (SNE), rose by 4.3% last year, at current prices, to almost FF15bn (£1.5bn) from FF14.4bn (£1.4bn) in 1999. Distributors' figures for the first quarter of this year show an increase of more than 10% on the same period of 2000, according to the National Publishers Association.

Of publishers' turnover last year, books accounted for FF14.3bn (£1.4bn) and rights for FF666m (£6.6bn), while the total including book clubs and mail order sales came to FF17bn (£1.7bn). "This recovery . . . shows that the printed book, which numerous commentators said would soon disappear, still has bright days ahead," the SNE said.

Art and religious titles, books for the young and comic strips were the best performers last year, with "exceptional" increases ranging from 6.2% to 15%, the SNE reported. How-to books improved across the board. Encyclopedias and dictionaries stabilised after slipping for several years. Sales of schoolbooks and science titles also stabilised, but law books fell 3.4%.

Paperback sales advanced 5.1% last year, outstripping the average for all books of 4.3%, and represented 12.4% of total book sales. Sales by online bookshops represented only 0.5% to 1% of turnover last year, but enabled books "to reach a new public, undoubtedly younger and less literary", the SNE said.

French publishers sold foreign rights for 5,947 titles last year, up from 5,423 in 1999. The only surprises were that 100 more titles were sold to Spain than in 1999, and 150 fewer were sold to Italy. This gave Spanish top ranking, with Portuguese, English, Italian and German following.