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Publishers’ sales of children’s books fell by almost 7% during 2010, from 190m in 2009 to 177m in 2010, marking a third successive fall for the children’s market since 2007 when publishers’ sales stood at 212m units.
The figures are reported in the Publishers’ Association Statistics Yearbook 2010 which analyses publishers’ sales, rather than sales through the consumer market.
The report also shows that the value of publishers’ children’s book sales have dropped, although more slightly, from £333m in 2009 to £331m in 2010.
Around 30% of children’s unit sales by publishers are accounted for by the export market, which declined by 7% in 2010 in both volume and value, with sales to Europe declining most, by 17% in value.
In the UK, the value of publishers’ sales of children’s books actually increased in 2010 by 2%, to £242m. The report shows that the value of publishers’ UK sales has been increasing year on year over the last three years, from £236m in 2008.
Children’s publishers have increased their average invoiced price for children’s books, up 7% from £1.79 in 2009 to £1.95 in 2010. This may be partly due to the stronger YA market, where cover prices have risen, although children’s books are still selling well below the total market average price of £4.17.
The value of the children’s UK book market in 2010, at end purchaser prices, is estimated at £473m in 2010, down 1.9% from 2009, representing some 14% of the total UK market by value. In 2006, children’s sales were valued at £419m.