Exporting to Mexico The ins and outs of the Mexican Book Market
Overview of the Ibero- American Publishing World 22 countries. Main languages: Spanish and Portuguese. More than 20 million sq. kilometres. 550 million people Brazil (200M), Mexico (120M), Colombia (47M), and Spain (46M).
Population by Country
International Commerce Exports Spain: Largest exporter: 54% (or $612M). Followed by Mexico (15% or $165M) and Colombia (9% or $101M). From Spain: to other European countries ($108M) and Latin America ($79M). From Latin America: to the USA ($109M), followed by Mexico ($33M).
International Commerce Imports Latin America imports from: 1. Europe ($333M) 2. North America ($296M) 3. China ($136M) 4. All other origins ($111M) 5. Latin America: Mexico ($70M) MERCOSUR ($64M)
Mexico Statistics 11 th Economy in the World GDP : 2,143,500 (B. US$) PPP : 15.930 (US$) Area : 1,964,375 sq. km, 13 th largest country Population of 119,713,203 as of 2014 Mexico is the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world. Literacy: 92.8%
Mexico particularities Mexico plays an important role as distributor for Central America and South America. Is one of the three countries of the region with a fixed price law along with Argentina and Ecuador. The publishing industry represents only 0.4% of GDP. Main issues of the publishing industry: reading & buying habits and a lack of specialized distributors.
Mexico imports Textbooks, books for universities and technical books. Origin: Spain, USA and Argentina mainly Themes: Religious, Scientific and Technical, Children and YA, Literature (60%)
Reading Habits Mexico the second lowest (UNESCO ranking).. 41% of the population spends his free time watching television, while only 12% spend this time reading. 40% of the population has never entered into a bookstore. The reading rate of the general population decreased from 54.6% in 2006 to 46% in 2012. This means that the average Mexican read 2.9 books per year, in contrast to Canada (17), Spain (7.5) and Germany (12).
Reading Habits There is one bookstore for every 200,000 inhabitants.. According to the National Chamber of the Mexican Publishing Industry (CANIEM), the negative trend in the number of libraries in 2006 decreased from 42,045 to 39,999. From 2010 to 2011 the trend changed, with an increase reaching 40,345 bookstores.
Reading Buying Habits By Theme The educational books represents 44% of sales in number of copies and 46% in billing. ELS (a government sale) that was 16% in number of copies and 12.8% in billing. Adults literature (5.5%) Children s literature is 9.3% General - Consulting 4.3% Fiction and religious books with 3.6%, each Personal growth 2.6%
The state of publishing In 2013 Mexico registered a publishing production of 340 million copies (private + public sectors) Private sector produces 145.7 million copies from which 30% was to the government programs: Public Libraries' supply Free books for Schools The National program of ESL in elementary schools.
Distribution and Retail Channels Distribution Channels 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Qty % Government Sales 46,619 48,140 44,142 46,496 49,512 59,349 48,486 32.8 Bookstores 42,084 41,705 40,468 39,999 40,345 39,408 36,776 24.9 School Sales 13,789 9,822 9,722 12,476 13,512 17,974 25,152 17 Exports 14,991 14,894 11,545 15,466 14,951 13,428 14,545 9.8 Department Stores and Self-service 12,747 11,013 11,926 10,611 8,393 9,549 8,153 5.5 Own Outlets 1,825 2,240 1,908 3,870 4,494 4,311 5,356 3.6 Private Companies 3,710 2,972 3,152 2,426 3,761 907 1,968 1.3 Book Fairs 1,658 1,378 1,329 1,226 1,032 1,413 1,101 0.7 Direct Credit Sales 991 1,094 1,131 1,169 1,181 148 194 0.1 Others* 8,715 5,431 3,680 4,867 5,158 4,930 6,032 4.3 Total 147,129 138,689 129,003 138,606 142,339 151,417 147,763 100
Sales: stable 155000 150000 147129 Sales 151417 147763 145000 142339 140000 138689 138606 135000 130000 129003 125000 120000 115000 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Main Bookstores Fondo de Cultura Economica Gandhi El Sotano Porrua UNAM Gomvill Samborn s
Percentage of production by Themes
Average Print Run and price (without Textbooks) Theme Print Run $ average Fiction 3,553 14 Childrens, YA, Educational 5,120 8 Literature / Literary Studies 1,586 12
Growing Industry Since 2009 there is an continued increase in the production of the publishing industry. The variation 2012 2013 is 2% this increase is due to the open market production that was 70% of the whole production in 2013.
Growing Industry 30,597 new titles in 2013 (27.7% more than 2012). 71% reprints 29% new releases. 145,756,604 units increased 2% from 2012. This increase is the result of reprints + reissues (9.4%), In contrast, new releases were reduced by 10%. The increase is basically in the regular production 12%. The production for the government decreased from 527 US$ in 2012 to 517 US$ in 2013; almost 9%.
Total number of copies published by sector Public sector Private production acquired by the government Public production acquired by the open market
Sales Quantity of copies Domestic vs. imported Between 2009 and 2012 there is a growing trend in the number of copies sold basically because of the local production sales. However, in 2013 there was a decrease of about 3 million copies (both local and imported). The imported sales represents 8% of the total sales.
Trend of the value of billing Domestic Vs. Imports The sales value in 2013 was 10 889 $US ie: 4.6% more than 2012. Domestic production increased from 8.753 in 2012 to 9316 in 2013. Imported books decreased by 4%.
Market Facts The educational books represents 44% of sales in number of copies and 46% in billing. The second place was ELS (a government sale) that was 16% in number of copies and 12.8% in billing. The sales within the country represents 90%, however only 61% was in the open market. The exports increased 1% from 9% in 2012 to 10% in 2013. The sales to the government represents 29% in copies but only 11% in billing (sales revenue). Exports are higher than imports.
E-books: Potential Market Sales of digital books represents only 0.2% of the total sales (printed and ebooks). In 2013 the sales was 19,000 US,17.6% more than 2012. Science and technology contributed 64% of the value of sales in 2013.
Bestsellers - Translations
Children and Young Adults Bestsellers Translations
Main Publishers
Best Independent Children s publishers
Most important Literary Awards in Spanish Nobel Prize (Octavio Paz) Cervantes Prince of Asturias (Literature) Planeta (Literature) Alfaguara (Novels)
Similar to any other region To remember Different books for different ages Some rules may be different (more informal) All kinds of publishers Growing Independent Publishers Keep your mind (and eyes) open Government still buy tons of books Look at the Publishers as partners to have access to the government plans
Thank you Christy Doucet, Programs Manager cdoucet@livrescanadabooks.com Twitter: @livrescabooks Facebook: www.facebook.com/livrescanadabooks LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/livres-canada-books We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund at Canadian Heritage Nous reconnaissons l appui financier du gouvernement du Canada par l entremise du Fonds du livre du Canada de Patrimoine canadien