The Worth of Global Publishing

Did you realize that global publishing's estimated worth is right at €80 Billion? (€ is the Euro money symbol...I forgot that, if I ever knew it!).

AND that global publishing is the second largest creative industry after television? It is currently bigger than music publishing, video games, entertainment software and audiovisual (DVDs and downloads) industries combined!

Arriving at the absolute true value of world publishing presents some roadblocks; for example, this "one crucial reason: the near-total absence of statistics for Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab world, which together account for a fifth of the world’s population."

Ruediger Wischenbart, a leading world publishing and book consultant from Germany, is seeking to undertake an unprecedented project -– the compilation of a comprehensive database of global publishing statistics.

A very worthy but daunting cause, indeed...

Publishing Perspectives has interesting details and numbers furnished by Tolu Ogunlesi:

Q: What is Global Publishing Worth? A: €80 Billion

Publishing — including STM, Educational and Trade material -– is currently estimated at being worth €80 billion and is the second largest creative industry in the world, after television; and is currently bigger than the music publishing; video games and entertainment software; and audiovisuals (DVDs and downloads) industries combined. But the question of what global publishing is really worth is not likely to be a true reflection, for one crucial reason: the near-total absence of statistics for Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab world, which together account for a fifth of the world’s population.

“It’s a struggle to find the most basic statistics in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Rudiger Wischenbart, a book industry consultant, told the audience at a panel discussion exploring that question, during the 2011 London Book Fair. “There’s only one country with good statistics –- South Africa.”

Wischenbart is seeking to undertake an unprecedented project -– the compilation of a comprehensive database of global publishing statistics. He explained that the findings are still “preliminary” at this stage.

A presentation by panelist Nasser Jarrous, Managing Director of Lebanese publishing house Jarrous Press, and a former chairman of the Beirut International Book Fair, provided insight into the politics of publishing industry statistics in North Africa and the Middle East.

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