The stationary book trade recorded a decline in sales of 12.8 percent due to the lockdown.
The employee of a Salzburg bookshop with a mask.
The Austrian book market reported the past year 2020 with a sales decrease of 4.4 percent. According to the figures published today by the Main Association of the Austrian Book Trade (HVB), the situation in the stationary book trade is even more dramatic, where sales fell by 12.8 percent.
For comparison: in Germany, the stationary book trade closed the year with a minus of 8.7 percent.
More children's books, fewer travel guides
The travel segment recorded the strongest decline of all product groups with a minus of 36 percent. Only books for children and young people (plus 2.9 percent) were positive. “The first and second lockdowns have left their mark,” is how the main association sums it up: Including e-commerce and online, the loss in sales was 24.3 percent in March and even 31.8 percent in April.
The November lockdown – again measured across all sales channels – had a negative impact of 15.3 percent.
In contrast, clearly positive results were recorded in June (14.4 percent plus), September (plus 7.9) and October (plus 3.6). Last December was also able to close with a slight increase in sales of 0.6 percent.
