On January 25, the Japanese National Publishing Association and the Institute of Publishing Science announced the size of the publishing market in 2021. The paper + electronic publishing market (estimated sales amount) increased 3.6% from the previous year to 1,674.2 billion yen. Paper continued to grow by 18.6% last year, while paper decreased by 1.3% in comparison, resulting in positive growth for the third consecutive year.
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Physical Paper
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Estimated sales of paper publications decreased 1.3% to 1,208 billion yen. Of this, books increased 2.1% to 680.4 billion yen, and magazines decreased 5.4% to 527.6 billion yen. Books increased for the first time in 15 years. In the first half of the year, 2020 fell due to the closure of the real bookstore, but in 2021, demand for nesting in the nest continued to be positive. In the second half of the year, it has been negative since the fall when the corona disaster settled down.
As for books, children’s books, literary books, junior high school attendance, language and qualifications, etc. are performing well. The return rate has improved to 32%. In addition, the upward trend in the price of books as a whole also affects the addition of sales amount. It is said that there are many cases of using the Web, such as hits introduced by “TikTok” and books of “YouTuber”.
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As for magazines, monthly magazines (including comics and mooks) decreased by 4.5%, and weekly magazines decreased by 9.7%. Of the monthly magazines, regular magazines decreased by about 7% and mooks decreased by about 14%. Comics (books) increased by 20% in 2020 due to the explosive hit of “Kimetsu no Yaiba”, but decreased by about 1% in 2021. The estimated sales amount of this paper is only the agency route, and does not include direct sales and direct transactions that have been increasing in recent years.
Digital
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The electronic publishing market increased by 18.6 year-on-year to 466.2 billion yen, and the market share of the entire publishing market was 27.8%. Of this, e-comics increased 20.3% to 411.4 billion yen, e-books (text) increased 12.0% to 44.9 billion yen, and e-magazines decreased 10.1% to 9.9 billion yen. The market share of electronic comics in the electronic publishing market was 88.2%.
As for electronic comics, hits of visualization works and vertically scrolling comics (Webtoon / Smartoon) have grown significantly. Sales of e-books at each store’s sales and campaigns increased significantly from the previous year. Electronic magazines have been negative for the fourth consecutive year due to a decrease in the number of members of “d magazine,” which has a large share. This electronic publishing market is an “estimate of the amount paid by readers” including unlimited reading, and does not include advertising revenue or digital libraries.
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