Turkey’s publishing industry shrinks: Number of printed books drops by 20 percent

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According to the data shared by the Publishers Copyright and Licensing Society (YAYBİR), 21,192,225 books were printed in Turkey last month. Last January, this number was 26,490,859. The number of printed books also dropped by 2,627,411 when compared to December 2021.

Commenting on these numbers, YAYBİR Chair Mustafa Aksoy has indicated that in a first in the publishing industry of Turkey, the number of printed book titles dropped by 0.6 percent and the number of printed book banderoles dropped by 0.4 percent in the country in a year.

YAYBİR Chair Aksoy has raised concerns that the decrease in the number of new works and banderoles will accelerate the deterioration in the cultural scene and it will also have a negative impact on the protection and development of written culture in Turkey.

According to the report prepared by Yurdagül Erkoca and published by YAYBİR on its website, of the books published in Turkey in January, 28.8 percent were adult reference - research books, 10 percent were adult fiction literature - arts, 12.6 percent were children's - teen books, 11 percent were about faith, 1.4 percent were academic publications, 35.8 percent were educational books and nearly 0.4 percent were imported books.

While the number of first-printed book titles was 20,137 in December 2021, the number of first-printed book banderoles was 8,799,790. In January 2022, however, the number of first-printed books dropped to 9,143 and that of first-printed book banderoles to 6,610,824.

Increasing exchange rates, increasing costs

Speaking against this background, YAYBİR Chair Mustafa Aksoy has indicated that this loss in the publishing industry cannot possibly be compensated for in the next few months. As a reason behind this drop, Aksoy has referred to increasing production costs, which mostly depend on imported input, as a result of the increasing foreign exchange rates:

"While our publishers would pay 825 Euro for a ton of newsprint in December 2021, today, they pay 1,100 Euro for the same amount."

According to Aksoy, the price of a ton of Bristol paper has increased from 1,750 to 2,000 USD. While all production inputs such as paper, ink and glue are imported, Aksoy has underlined that the increase in production costs has seen an almost 100-percent increase:

"While the price of a block was 65 lira in November-December 2021, it increased to 140-150 lira in January 2022."

Underlining that the increases in production costs inevitably affect the book prices, YAYBİR Chair Aksoy has noted that readers' tendency to buy books drops as a result of inflation and high costs of living.

Concluding his statement, Aksoy has also listed a series of recommendations and requests, including the reduction of taxes on paper to zero. (AEK/SD)