Ukrainian publishing industry and the book market significantly started to grow and develop since 2014. The progress affects almost every sphere of the sector including publishing, printing, distribution, selling/buying rights and specialized events. Despite the COVID-19, the year 2020 was a record year for selling rights of Ukrainian authors.
- € 100 mln volume of the market
- 1000 publishers with book publishing as a main activity, 340 printing houses with book printing as a main activity
- biggest printing companies produce 19-20 mln copies per year
- 0,28 trade books per capita
- more than 160 Ukrainian titles sold abroad in 2020 while since 2013 over 830 Ukrainian titles were sold
- top countries purchasing rights to Ukrainian titles from 2013 to 2020 were Bulgaria (143 titles), China (98 titles), Vietnam (61 titles), Poland (45 titles), Slovakia (41 titles), the US and Czech Republic (30 titles each)
- total print run for 2020 was 41,9 mln copies with 18967 titles
- 75% of titles sold in Ukraine are translated literature
The publishing industry in Ukraine has lots of facets which might be of interest to foreign partners, as far as it is characterized by:
- Printing facilities and cutting-edge technologies for an adequate price. During the world's leading book fairs it happens that the most «advanced» publishers, who are constantly looking for new solutions and, accordingly, partners, have heard a lot about Ukrainian printing industry. Especially those who create children's books and have high requirements for printing, compliance with European standards, also publish books with complex designs of some books (for example, toy books) and looking for a fair price. In addition, foreign publishers are attracted by the fact that the Ukrainian market has an offer for many manual processes that are not available in Europe, and for which they often need to turn to China which complicates logistics processes.
- Books with innovative technologies - is a rising trend among Ukrainian publishers. Companies are actively starting to use virtual and augmented reality (AR/VR) in their children's books or creating applications and games along with the printed publications and have already achieved impressive results. Publishing houses working in this direction are actively collaborating with partners from abroad.
- High-quality illustrations and design are constantly being recognized on the international market by getting awards on book fairs like Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Frankfurt Book Fair and other professional contests. That’s also the reason for a huge demand for Ukrainian children’s literature in the world (most of the titles sold abroad account for children’s books).
- Book fairs and festivals act as strategically important points in both B2C and B2B sales. Ukraine annually hosts more than 10 book events with international components with two major ones — Book Arsenal in Kyiv and Book Forum in Lviv (just two of them gather app. 80 000 visitors and guests from from over 50 countries).
Stakeholders
Ukrainian Book Institute (UBI) — is a state institution under the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. It is designed to shape state policy in the book industry, promote book reading in Ukraine, support book publishing, encourage translation activities, and popularize Ukrainian literature abroad.
Ukrainian Publishers and Booksellers Association (UPBA) — is an all-Ukrainian charitable organization established on the basis of legality, humanity, common interests and equality of rights of its members, voluntariness, self-government and transparency, to ensure charitable activities in the interests of publishing and book distribution in Ukraine.
For more information about Ukrainian publishing read the review of the sector here.
