14% of books released in Spain are in the Catalan language

Barcelona (CNA).- Publishers released 11,348 titles in Catalan in 2015, according to a new study by the publishing industry that also shows that sales for books in this language amounted to €230 million. The report finds an increase in the number of Catalan books, from 12.3% of the total number of books published in Spain in 2014 to 14% in 2015. While the Catalan publishing industry is considered to be in good health, as 43% of all books released in Spanish are also published in Catalonia, figures could be improved, said the coordinator of ‘Catalan Book Week’, Joan Sala. In fact, the Association of Publishers in Catalan Language is “worried” about a decline in child and teenage books sales. Its president, Montse Ayats, said that it is very important to attract young readers because reading improves a child’s school performance.

“There is no doubt that Catalonia is a strong centre for the publishing industry”, said Ayats, pointing out that 25,000 out of 60,000 books in the Spanish language are released in Catalonia. In total, in Spain, 80,000 books were published in 2014, a 2% increase in comparison to the previous year.

Of those, 11,348 were in the Catalan language and released in Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. Up to 3,524 were school books, 2,888 fiction books and 2,706 children´s and teen books. The rise in digital books has reduced significantly the number of encyclopaedias and dictionaries being published: only 45 were released in 2015.

Montse Ayats said that the Catalan publishing industry needs to translate more books in order to gain “prestige”. In 2015, up to 625 fiction books were translated into Catalan. “It is not all that can be done, but there are efforts to translate more and they need to continue”, she stressed.

‘Catalan Book Week’ will run between the 2nd of September and the 11th of September in Barcelona.