Inflation rate: +1.3 (prognosis 2012); +1.8 (prognosis 2011); +1.5 (2010); +0.1 (2009)

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Kathryn Reynolds
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FRANCE Economic data Area: 543,965 sq km Population: 65 million (January 2011) GDP per capita: 29,738 (2010); 29,652 (2009); 30,326 (2008) Inflation rate: +1.3 (prognosis 2012); +1.

1 FRANCE Economic data Area: 543,965 sq km Population: 65 million (January 2011) GDP per capita: 29,738 (2010); 29,652 (2009); 30,326 (2008) Inflation rate: +1.3 (prognosis 2012); +1.8 (prognosis 2011); +1.5 (2010); +0.1 (2009) Unemployment rate: 9.3 (prognosis 2012); 9.5 (prognosis 2011); 9.7 (2010); 9.6 (2009) Sources: German Federal Statistical Office; Germany Trade & Invest Book production data Publishers - Total number of publishers approx. 10,000, including: 20 large-scale publishers with more than 5,000 titles in their programme; 5,000 publishers with a catalogue of fewer than 10 titles publishers are members of the French publishers' Association SNE Biggest players Hachette Livre publishing group - Sixth largest publishing group worldwide, present in 25 countries, with 12,000 titles each year - Belongs to the Lagardère media corporation (book publishers, magazine publishers, radio, television, event management, marketing, consulting) - A broad programme covering all segments o Hachette Education: text books, reference works o Groupe Hatier: text books, children's and young adult books o Hachette Illustré: Hachette Jeunesse (children's and young adult books, comics) o Hachette Tourisme: travel guides o Hachette Pratique: cookery books, self-help books o Larousse: most important publisher of reference works o Grasset/Fayard, Stock, Calmann-Lévy: fiction

2 Editis publishing group - Belongs to the Spanish publishing group Planeta - A broad programme covering all segments o Place des Editeurs: fiction, travel guides, self-help books, illustrated books o Univers Poche: paperback non-fiction, fiction and young adult books o Robert-Laffont: reference works o Nathan: children's books, school text books France Loisirs publishing group - Wholly owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann Group; active in book club business - Bookshops, also in Belgium, Canada and Switzerland Other large publishing groups - Flammarion: fiction, non-fiction, travel guides, art, photography, lifestyle, social sciences - Gallimard: fiction, children's books, travel guides, art, social sciences - La Martinière: important for illustrated books, children's and young adult books and literature (Seuil) - Média Participation: most important comics publishers (Dargaud, Dupuis, Le Lombard), children's books, self-help books, cookery books (Gruppe Fleurus) - Albin Michel: fiction, art, history, religion, children's and young adult books - Actes Sud: literature, children's and young adult books - Bayard: children's books Booksellers - In total, approx. 15,000 book retail points, of which from 2,000 to 2,500 are proper bookshops - The rest are media stores (FNAC, Espace culturel Leclerc, Virgin) and supermarkets - Bookshops responsible for around 40% of book sales - Book retail chains play a big role, e.g.: 1.) FNAC, incl. Fnac.com: 565 million turnover from books, 81 book retail points 2.) Direct Group France/Bertelsmann: 418 million (288 book retail points) 3.) Leclerc: 325 million 4.) Virgin Group: 105 million (37 book retail points) 5.) Gibert Joseph: 81.5 million (30 book retail points) - Despite the importance of book retail chains, France is reputed to have one of the densest networks of bookshops in the world. - Thanks to state subsidies the smaller booksellers are not severely disadvantaged by the large chains. For example, there is the "LiR" label (Librairies indépendantes de référence), which several hundred bookshops have carried since August This brings with it exemption from business taxes and the potential for receiving subsidies through the CNL (Centre National du Livre an organ of the culture and communications ministry). It also acts as a quality seal for service and assortment.

3 Sales volumes (2010) There are no comprehensive official statistics for the total sales volume achieved by the French publishing industry. The figures given here are taken from a survey by the publishers' association SNE, which only takes its members sales into consideration. These statistics therefore make no claim to be full and complete. Book sales: 2,707 million (+0.2%) - Fiction accounts for around 25% of total sales a slight decline (-1.4%). Contemporary and historical novels were particularly successful, while crime novels, science fiction and romantic novels all declined. - Art books and illustrated books (including self-help books) constitute 17.8% of total sales an increase of 4.8%. Sales of cookery and wine books increased particularly strongly, as did travel literature (however, this does not apply to practical travel guides). - The children's and young adult books segment remains stable, though with some adjustments: picture books have increased strongly, while young adult books declined. - School book sales rose by 10.8%. - Comics have remained constant. - After two poor years, academic books in the humanities field rose by 2.3% - Reference works suffered a strong decline for the fifth year in succession (23.2%), which is directly related to competition from the free online sources. Licence sales: 131 million (+3.9 %) Sales of e-books: 52.9 million (= 2% of total revenue from book sales) Production of titles 2011: 63,347 new publications and reissues (+2.1%) 2010: 63,052 new publications and reissues (-1.0%) Average book prices 2010: average increase of 2.2%; by category: +1.3% for fiction; +0.9% for school books and reference works, and +3.9% for children's and self-help books. VAT on books was raised from 5.5% to 7%. Levelling of VAT applied to e-books and printed books (both now 7%)

4 Licensing statistics (2010) - 9,478 licences sold in foreign countries (2010) - Share of French book production consisting of translations: o 2009: 14.3%, 2010: 14.9%, 2011: 15.9% - Languages of origin as a share of total translations: o English: 59.9% o Japanese: 8.8% o German: 6.5% o Italian: 4.6% o Spanish: 3.6% o Scandinavian languages: 2.2% - Most important licensing partners: Spain, China, Italy, Germany - In overall licence sales from Germany, translations into French were the fifth most important, with a share of 6.1% (after Chinese, Spanish Polish and Czech). - Among the total 516 titles translated into French, the children's and young adult books segment was particularly significant, with 205 translations. Also successful were self-help books (77 titles) and books devoted to leisure activities (58). Distribution - There is no established wholesale book trade comparable to the German "Barsortiment" companies. - Distribution takes place through Centres de Distribution (delivery from the publishers) - The largest centres are owned by the larger publishing groups, but are also used by other publishers: o Sodis: Gallimard o Interforum: Editis o Hachette Distribution o MDS: Média Participation o Union Distribution: Flammarion o Dilisco: Albin Michel - There are also a handful of delivery services catering to the smaller publishers (comparable to Prolit): o Daudin Distribution o Pollen o De Borée - A small number of wholesalers exist, such as Société du Livre Français (SLF), which in some ways seem similar to the German Barsortiments, but they do not have the same significance, and their distribution of books is not as fast or geographically comprehensive. - There are three large distribution platforms for e-books: Numilog (for Hachette), Eden Livres (for Flammarion, Gallimard and La Martinière Groupe), E-Plateforme (for Editis). - Today, these three major platforms now work as a pool to ensure the clarity and customer friendliness of e-book sales. - E-books are provided for resellers (booksellers, e-book websites), and made accessible to the end customers.

5 Exports 2010: million (+6%) - Export markets: Belgium (29.4%), Switzerland (13.3%), Canada (12.4%) - Germany (3.5%) is the most important of the non-french-speaking countries, ahead of Spain (3%), UK (2.9%) and USA (2.8%). Fixed book prices - Prices have been fixed since the "Loi Lang" was passed in The publisher or wholesaler sets the shop price. - Maximum discount for end customers is 5%. Copyright protection laws - Code de la Propriété Intellectuelle (1992) - Bern Convention (since 1994) Book fair The most important French book fair is the Salon du Livre de Paris. - Running since In 2012: 1,200 exhibitors, 190,000 visitors Organisers: Syndicat National de l Edition and Reed Expositions France Associations Syndicat National de l Edition Française (SNE) Publishers' association, established in 1874, with currently 580 members. Bureau International de l Edition Française (BIEF) Established in 1873, its mandate is to promote French literature abroad and support publishers with export activities and licensing, and in their foreign partnerships. Syndicat de la Librarie Française (SLF): Established in 1959, it now has 600 members. Sources: Buch- und Buchhandel in Zahlen 2011; Economie du Livre chiffres-clés (SNE)