The panorama of the book production chain in Mexico is being reconfigured. The cut in the last two years of sales from the private publishing sector to the Mexican government, particularly of Free Textbooks for Secondary Schools, is causing the rethinking and displacement of the book business towards other sales channels.
On the morning of this Tuesday, December 3, within the framework of the 38th edition of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), the National Chamber of the Mexican Publishing Industry (Caniem) presented the Indicators of the Private Publishing Sector in Mexico 2023– 2024, in the voices of its president, Hugo Setzer Letsche, and Hugo Alejandro Cejas Rodríguez, coordinator of the chamber’s Data Management Commission, accompanied by Gvantsa Jobava, as president elected from the International Publishers Association (IPA), and Andre Breedt, global director of the firm Nielsen Bookdata.
In 2023, the private publishing sector overall sold 81.3 million books, just over 40 million fewer books than those sold in 2019 (123 million units). Between 2022 and 2023 alone, sales decreased by 22% in terms of volume, while in billing the decrease was not so drastic: only 6.9 percent.
“The impact is much less noticeable in the billing because the sale of books to secondary schools were books that were sold practically subsidized, at prices just above the industrial cost,” commented the coordinator of the chamber’s Data Management Commission.
All these signs are part of the effects of the stoppage of the Free Textbooks for Secondary School program. During 2022 the private sector produced around 37 million copies of this type, while in 2023 the total registration was 8 million books. This is a 77% contraction in book production for this level of public education.
Sales channels grow
The report also details the percentage participation of the different book sales channels and how these varied between 2022 and 2023 based on the market adjustment that meant the drop in sales to the Ministry of Public Education, which in 2023 represented the 5.5% of editorial billing channels, compared to the figure for 2022, which was 16 percent. In contrast, the rest of the sales channels grew as follows:
Bookstores were confirmed as the largest channel, the vital one, which went from 33 to 36% participation in billing. Sales via the internet, for its part, went from 3 to 6 percent. Sales channels in department stores and the sale of editorial material to schools, colleges and universities also grew by one percentage point.
“While the secondary book channel decreased, it further highlighted the importance of the book channel, which continues to be the main marketing and distribution channel in the industry and has grown compared to the others,” said Cejas Rodríguez.
Setzer Letsche agreed with this. “One of the most interesting things is the importance that bookstores have traditionally had and continue to have for the chain. We are convinced that bookstores also need a lot of support from the publishing industry. We would hope that from the government as well, with a series of measures to promote books and reading, among which is the possibility of finally being able to correct the issue of VAT (the zero rate) on bookstores.”
On the other hand, the global director of Nielsen Bookdata, Andre Breedt, said: “It is excellent news to show that the Mexican market is growing (except for the aforementioned case), is stable and strong in both volume and value. The only other major market with which the same is happening is India. The rest of the large markets are struggling to cushion the impact of inflation.”
Zero rate for bookstores?
Last November, through an initiative presented by the Culture Commission in the Senate of the Republic, the Legislature once again put on the table the application of the zero-rate regime on Value Added Tax (VAT) to bookstores in the country. .
Although it is not the first time that this issue has been raised in the Legislature, it is encouraging since the current version recognizes a disparity within the book production chain. The president of Caniem spoke about this.
“We say it this way, very consciously: we must correct the issue of VAT on books, from which bookstores are excluded (…) Now, it is not the first time that we are in the same situation. There have already been other initiatives of this type in Congress. What is positive is that the initiative is the result of meetings that we have held with the president of the Senate Commission, Beatriz Mojica, where she has shown great openness to listen to the proposals of the publishing industry,” said Hugo Setzer, finally.
E-books, on the decline
Another interesting detail is that income from the sale of digital books continues to decline. After reaching an estimated income of 368.1 million current pesos in 2020, billing the following year was 298.3 million pesos and in the subsequent year, 257.2 million. The decrease between 2022 and 2023 was 13.7 percent.
