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The headline decline in sales for British publishers last year of 3.2% is a "cause for concern but not alarm", outgoing Publishers Association president Victoria Barnsley has said in the PA Statistics Yearbook 2010.
The yearbook statistics report, overall, that UK publishers sold an estimated 739 million physical books in 2010, down 3.2% on 2009. However, value increased by 2% year on year, with an invoice value of £3.1bn. Of these books, 446 million were sold to the home market, down 3.7% in volume terms on 2009, but up 0.6% in terms of value to £1.86bn. Export sales made up 293 million units, down 2% in volume compared to the previous year, but the invoice value of £1.3bn was up 4.3% year on year. Export sales have dropped in three of the past four years.
Writing in the yearbook, Barnsley said: "Publishers—like many others—have been adversely affected by a combination of sluggish consumer spending and retrenchment of public spending in the education market. The clear bright spot remaining for UK publishers is that the creative genius behind our historic success remains undiminished."
Non-fiction fared better in 2010 than fiction, with book sales of the latter down 3.5% by volume and 2.3% by value, to 184 million units and a value of £546m. Non-fiction and reference books, meanwhile, were down by 0.2% in volume in 192m units, but up 4.6% in value, to £816m.