Online sales go down while bookstores increase their sales. The president of AIE, Ricardo Franco Levi, senses a "difficult future due to inflation and the scarcity of paper."

After a record 2021, during the first six months of this year, the miscellaneous publishing sector (novels and essays sold in physical and online bookstores and in large stores), suffered a decline of 3.6% fewer copies sold and 4,2% less in sales value (cover price) compared to the same period of the previous year. But compared to the pre-pandemic period, the comparison remains positive: more than 14.5% in copies and more than 14.7% in value (2019 data), according to estimates by the Study Office of the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) done by Nielsen BookScan surveys.

"This drop is due to the decline in sales in online channels, only partially offset by the recovery of physical bookstores," explained the president of AIE, Ricardo Franco Levi, "the economic situation is difficult, but publishers, despite the rise in inflation and the continuing scarcity of paper, have not adjusted prices.”

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