Japanese comics are the "most dynamic" sector of publishing: With 23 million copies sold in the first quarter of 2011, manga sales in France have more than doubled in three years according to figures released by GfK on Saturday.
The manga sales increased by 168% in the first six months of 2019 compared to the same period last year.
Comparatively to the first half 2021, which was a record year in France's book market, manga sales increased 15% (3 million copies). However, all other categories saw a decline over the same period (-3% for modern fiction and -10% for genre comics).
All genres combined, "143 Million New Print Books" were sold in 2022. This resulted in a turnover exceeding 1.6 billion Euros. The volume was slightly lower than 2021's first half, but still a significant increase in value.
Casseline Rosello, a Gfk consultant, stated that "the market remains more than 10% higher then the 2019 level of activity." This statement was made in a press release by the firm. The most loved genre in France is still novels, with 29.8 millions copies of "modern fiction" stamped between January 2022 and June 2022.
Eight titles of modern fiction were the top 10 most-purchased books in the first half. They are led by Joel Dicker's The Alaska Sanders Affair, followed by Annihilate and Pierre Lemaitre's The Big World: The Glory Years.
