The book and the publishing movement in the world...An analytical vision

At a time when the publishing movement in the world is witnessing growth, Arabic books are witnessing a decline (Anatolia)

Evaluating the state of publishing in the Arab world requires a quick look at the publishing industry in the world. From this standpoint, this entry aims to provide a focused view of the reality of publishing in the world.

A number of publishing experts believe that the publishing movement will witness good growth in the coming years, due to several factors, including: the increasing popularity of audiobooks, the continued demand for printed books, and the increasing demand for books in emerging markets.

These hypotheses can be measured through the most important book market in the world, which is the United States of America, where audiobooks witnessed a growth of more than 20% in 2022, while novels represented the fastest growing category in printed books. Of the 788 million printed books, 40 % of them are novels. The United States of America represents a quarter of the size of the international book market, and book sales in the United States increased by 21% during the years 2019/2020, but what is important to realize is that book sales via the Internet represent 71% of the volume of sales in the United States. .

Mosteghanemi's dreams are worth studying

The number of books published in the world has increased in recent years, with 1.5 million books published in 2021. The United States is the largest publisher in the world, followed by the United Kingdom and China, and English is still the most popular in the publishing movement, followed by Chinese, then Spanish, and neither There is room here to talk about Arabic or put it in comparison or comparison.

One of the funny things that the numbers indicate is that out of every thousand novels, 629 of them were written by women. This number also leads us to a steady increase in the publication of novels written by Arab women writers in the last ten years. In 2019, they represented approximately 10% of the volume of novels. published in the Arab world, while they represented 17% in 2022. This leads us immediately to the fact that the writer Ahlam Mosteghanemi is the most widely published Arab woman writer, so she is a model worth studying.

All of the above indicates that studying the global publishing market is necessary.

In order for there to be an Arab presence in this arena, with an analysis of how and the trends in the growth of this market, in 2016 the number of books sold was estimated at about 2.2 billion copies, 72% of which were sold in the United States, China, and Britain.

Google estimates that 129,864,880 books have been published internationally to date, and the general/educational book publishing industry is expected to grow by 1.9% annually by 2030, noting that global book publishing revenues were estimated at $143.65 billion, while they were estimated in 2018. With 122 billion, it is expected to reach 163.89 billion dollars in 2030.

Print books still represent 77% of sales volume, while audiobooks are expected to grow by 27% over the next five years.

Introduction to Islam and the Bible

There are upcoming changes in the publishing movement, and thus its revenues internationally. In 2019, India surpassed Britain to become the No. 5 publisher internationally, and it has now surpassed Britain to become the No. 5 economy internationally.

Today, the five largest countries in the publishing movement - the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and India - their share of the international market is expected to reach approximately 68% of international book sales revenues in 2027. It is noteworthy that India exports books introducing Islam and books. Islamic studies in the English language of many countries, a field in which Arab publishing houses are absent.

Religious books represent an important figure in the international publishing movement. In the United States, $705.1 million is spent annually on religious books, and the number of copies sold is estimated at more than 179 million copies. The Holy Bible (the Bible) is sold more than 20 million copies nationwide. International, at the very least, with revenues estimated at $430 million.

But what is striking is that on the Arab level, the religious book declined from 60% of the volume of publication in the Arab world in 2015 to 41% in 2021, but at the same time it is still the most widely distributed, as more copies of the religious book are printed than in any other category. .

The educational book publishing sector is the fastest growing and largest in size, as the size of the global educational book market amounts to $3,000 billion annually, and the United States is the largest in the world, followed by Europe, as it represents 31.87% of the revenues of the publishing industry in the United States in 2022, and in the same year it achieved... This sector has revenues of $8.96 billion in the United States.

But we must be aware that digital educational books are increasing rapidly. They are expected to grow at a rate of 17% annually until 2027, and printed textbooks remain the dominant form of publishing educational books. We must take into account that the market for digital educational books is expected to reach... To $29.5 billion by 2027.

Absence of an Arabic publisher

The absence of Arab publishers from academic publishing in a way that keeps pace with international changes in this field represents a big question mark. Even Arab universities that have publishing programs still have a limited role, and we can acknowledge that Kuwait University, Qatar University, Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, and King Saud has the best academic publishing programs in Arabic, but this leads us to explore international academic publishing and its returns.

Academic publishing has the highest returns internationally, but is beginning to face the problem of free open source publishing. It is estimated that more than 5.14 million academic papers are published each year, including conference papers, surveys and reviews.

During the past five years, the number of published academic articles has increased by 22.78%, and China has ranked first in the world in academic publishing since 2022, and it is the first country to publish more than a million research papers per year, taking into account that 36% of the number of academic articles comes from China. And the United States, just 10 countries publish 87% of all academic research in the world.

The used book represents a growing number in the used book market globally, although it does not receive much attention, but it also has a growing role in the Arab world, especially in: Egypt, Iraq, and Morocco, and its sales on Facebook have even begun to grow at an increasing pace in the Arab world.

Global used book sales in 2022 are estimated at $24.03 billion, a growth rate of 5.5% over 2021. More than 50% of used books are sold in the United States and Europe.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.