‘Spanish Markets Digital Evolution’ Report 2017: above-average growth on the Spanish-language market

Frankfurt, 1 June 2017 - With 110% growth in Latin America and 41% in Spain, the eBook market on the Spanish-language markets recorded enormous growth in 2016. This is proven by the industry report ‘Spanish Markets Digital Evolution’, published on 30 May 2017 by Bookwire Spain, in collaboration with Dosdoce.com.

Digital markets in Latin America and Spain record impressive growth

The third edition of the report is proof of a massive increase in digital book sales in these regions in 2016:

Publishers in Spain recorded an increase of 41% on the digital market and in publishers in Latin American even recorded an increase of 110%, in comparison with the same period in the previous year. The report’s publishers, Dosdoce.com, and Bookwire Spain, use sales figures from more than 200 publishers in both regions - and mainly attribute the positive trend to the catalogue’s target-group and country specific compilation, as well as to the increasing significance of price promotions that generate new eBook readers.

“With its service offers for publishers, Bookwire has invested in the Spanish-speaking market from the very beginning. Our publishers’ growth confirms that we are right, especially since the positive development is set to continue in coming years. Because we are only at the start of the digital era, readers’ behaviour will keep changing, so the market will also become increasingly digital”, says Jens Klingelhöfer, manager of Bookwire GmbH.

Spain: will eBooks soon make up 10% of book sales?

The share of eBooks in the book market as a whole developed as positively as the sales figures. A share of up to 10% or more is expected for Spain, which means a two-figure share in the book market for digital products in 2016, for the first time (2015: 5% share). Self-publishing sales are also growing consistently, to a current 8 million Euro or 5-7% of the total market.

“Final data from the ‘Spanish Publishers’ Association’ is not yet available, but the forecasts are based on the opinion of numerous experts. The forecasts have even been estimated very cautiously. We are also seeing exactly the same trend with our publishers”, says Javier Celaya, Managing Director of Bookwire Spain, about the gain in market share.

eBook stores and flat-rate models generate sales (see diagram 1)

The Mexican market, in particular, gives Spanish-language eBooks new potential for growth - flat-rate models and/or digital book clubs now make up as much as 5% of Spanish-language publishers’ digital sales. Even if the various providers’ eBook stores are still the main sales channel (93%), the new business segment is constantly developing - unlike business with libraries, which is stagnating (2%).

Exports are booming for publishers too (see diagram 2)

The figures gathered in ‘Spanish Markets Digital Evolution’ also yield an additional finding: Spanish publishers generate 51% of sales through ‘digital exports’, i.e. on international markets. They sell 34% in Latin America, 11% in the US Spanish-language market, followed by Europe (5%). Mexico is the largest market for indie publishers from Spain (16%).

“Spanish publishers can really make the most of the benefits of the digital market. They are not restricted to their home market, but can go into distribution in all Spanish-language markets and therefore generate sales - without major expenditure, by using simpler digital trade”, is how Javier Celaya interprets these figures.

The average price of an eBook in Spanish-language markets is...

... 7.57 Euro for eBooks from Spanish publishers (incl. taxes). It is an average of 8.96 Euro in Latin America. ‘Spanish Markets Digital Evolution’ shows that the largest jumps in sales are to be made in the 4.99 Euro to 9.99 Euro price category. (Diagram 3)

‘Digital Evolution of the Spanish Market’ available for download: http://bit.ly/digital_evolution_spanish-markets>http://bit.ly/digital_evolution_spanish-markets