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Publishing marketing message: 2

The UK publishing industry is the most successful exporter of its kind in the world.

• Publishing accounted for the highest proportion of UK exports of creative services in 2009 (£2.63 billion), making up 3.1 per cent of the total. (1)

• The UK is the world’s largest exporter and re-exporter of books by value.

• UK publishers exported 293 million books in 2010, worth over £1.25 billion.

• Almost half of the UK book publishing industry’s revenue is generated by export sales.

• The value of book exports from the UK grew by £51 million (4.3 per cent) in 2010.

• The value of UK book exports rose every year between 2006-2010, and was 23 per cent higher in 2010 than 2006.

• Export sales account for 40 per cent of total UK publisher sales.

• Key export markets for UK publishers include the US, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and Canada. Exports are also growing strongly in the Middle East.

• UK authors and illustrators - from JK Rowling and Ian McEwan to John le Carré and Quentin Blake - are read and celebrated around the world.

• Three of the four highest-grossing movie franchises are based on British books: James Bond, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Between them, they have grossed over US$13 billion to date.

• The UK book publishing industry earns substantial revenue from the global licensing of publishing rights, subscriptions to electronically delivered content and the remittance of profits from overseas subsidiaries.

• UK publishers have a much more broadly based export business in books than the US, its closest competitor. 57 per cent of their exports go to the top 10 markets, as opposed to 83 per cent for the US.

• The UK publishes over 20 per cent of the world's scholarly journals.

• Scientific and technical books and journals published in the UK can be found in classrooms, libraries, laboratories and offices on every continent.

• UK academic publishers can sell as much as 70 per cent of their output in overseas markets.

Sources

All facts and figures sourced from The Publishers Association, apart from:

1. Creative Industries Economic Estimates, DCMS, December 2011