Paris (AFP)

The confinement has stimulated the desire to read French people, especially among the youngest, reveals an Odoxa poll for the National Publishing Union (SNE) published on Thursday.

"The book is acclaimed by the public, especially by the youngest, as a real antidote", commented the president of this professional organization, Vincent Montagne, quoted in a press release.

"The renewed enthusiasm of the French for reading (...) is a tremendous hope for our profession," he added on the occasion of the wishes of the SNE, broadcast online.

During the first confinement (March to May), 30% of French people read more than usual, and during the second (October-December), they were 16%.

Overall, "33% of French people have read more books than normal during confinement (s)", sums up Odoxa.

By age, 18-24 year olds have increased the time spent on books the most: 42%, then 24%.

Asked about the reasons, respondents cited first "occupy their days, fight against boredom" (43%), then "disconnect from the news" (33%) and "avoid staying by staying too long on social networks "or on the internet (31%).

They are overwhelmingly in favor of bookstores remaining open (85%) rather than closing (13%) in the event of new confinement.

"I hope that we will not spend unnecessary time pleading against the closure of bookstores," said Mr. Montagne during the wishes of his organization.

The bad surprise, however, is that the majority of respondents are unaware that the law imposes a single book price, a measure intended to protect the publishing sector: 53% of them think that this price "may vary by region, time of year, economic conditions and retailers ", while 45% respond that it is" the same everywhere ".

The French say they read 8.4 books on average per year, although half of them read between zero and three.

The novel largely dominates: 45% read detective novels, 32% contemporary novels, and 28% fantasy or adventure novels.

Only then come practical or leisure books (26%).

The survey was carried out, via the internet, on December 10 and 11, among 990 people representing the French population and aged 18 and over.

According to preliminary estimates from the SNE, which at this stage do not include e-books, the publishing sector's turnover fell by around 2% in 2020.

But this overall decrease hides very strong seasonal variations, "which are exceptional, and an aberration, due to a succession of confinements and deconfinements", underlined Mr. Montagne.

And the year was very different depending on the sector, with good times for comics among others, but stricken sectors such as travel guides.

In addition, because of postponements or cancellations of publications, "we reduced perhaps by 15% editorial production", according to the president of the SNE, which was fatal in some ways.

"This year is an extremely hard year for authors and creators. There is the economic aspect, but also the psychological aspect."

© 2021 AFP