The Federation of European Publishers published a very interesting report on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the book sector in Europe. Those days, many of our countries had just experienced the first wave of lockdowns. This new document updates the information from the previous survey with a first approximation of the impact of the pandemic on the book sector in 2020.
The report is based on the information from each of national markets which have been shared with FEP by its 29 members and reveals a great resilience capacity amid many transformations and difficulties.
A very good recap of the situation is presented in the foreword by FEP President, Peter Kraus vom Cleff: “a very heterogeneous, but all in all confident overall picture emerges. Publishers as well as booksellers have displayed an amazing entrepreneurial willingness to adapt to the circumstances, finding new and innovative solutions whenever required. During lockdowns, many people re-discovered books“. He continues: “A key lesson we can draw from our study is that political support for our uniquely diverse and varied cultural sector is crucial. The evidence shows that countries which classified books and book shops as essential and specifically promoted and supported the cultural sector suffered significantly fewer losses in this core sector, which is so important for Europe culturally and economically, than those in which there was a complete shutdown of the brick-and-mortar book shops and a lack of state support”.
The report can be downloaded on the FEP website
