Literature Book trade in German-speaking Switzerland down 1.8 percent in 2024
The book market in German-speaking Switzerland generated sales of 575.7 million francs last year. This corresponds to a drop of 1.8 percent compared to 2023, as reported by the Swiss Booksellers and Publishers Association (SBVV) on Thursday.
06.03.2025, 15:25
SDA
According to the press release, trade with companies and institutions in particular is declining. This includes schools and libraries, for example. In this area alone, turnover fell by 5.1 percent compared to the previous year.
Brick-and-mortar and online retailing caused the book market to fall by 0.2 percent. This slight decline was already communicated in January. 18.5 million books were sold via bookstores and online stores in 2024. This is 1.1 percent less than in 2023. The book trade has largely compensated for this decline with price increases of around one percent.
Although e-books were once seen as the future of the book medium, conspicuously fewer sales were generated here: Sales of digital books were around three percent down on the previous year, according to the press release. According to the SBCA, readers continue to value books in printed form.
Books from Swiss publishers accounted for 16.8 percent of sales in stationary retail. This remained similar to previous years. The vast majority of books sold in Switzerland - over 80 percent - are from Germany and Austria. Conversely, it is estimated that every 25th book sold in Germany comes from a Swiss publisher.
