Nielsen’s India Book Market Report : Valuing Indian Publishing at $3.9 Billion

The India Book Market Report released by Nielsen at Frankfurt Book Fair last week values the print book market in India, including book imports, at $3.9 billion. This positions India among the largest English-language book markets in the world. The compound annual growth rate of the market is 20.4% between 2011–12 and 2014–15, according to the report.

“Since a large number of publishers, especially in Indian languages, do not use ISBNs, this number is perhaps more representative of English-language publishers in India,” said Shesh Seshadri, Director, Lonely Planet India, who was closely involved in the making of the report. 

A growing literacy rate, estimated to reach 90% in 2020, government spends on education, digital initiatives, and outsourcing of publishing services to India, are all identified as the strengths of the Indian publishing industry. While the market is highly fragmented, it is also experiencing consolidation, in part as a result of the involvement of foreign multinationals.

“The Indian book industry benefits from a variety of government initiatives,” says Nielsen, “however, the Indian book industry receives no direct investment from the government – a serious roadblock for publishers.” Lack of direct investment, difficult distribution, long credit cycles, direct cost increases, and piracy, are identified as the other major challenges to the industry.

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