In his remarks made to the Hungarian News Agency Corporation (MTI), the managing director of the Association of Hungarian Publishers and Booksellers (MKKE), Péter László Zentai, expressed his sincere hope that the economic situation currently being experienced by Hungary’s population will not deteriorate enough to cause severe losses in the publishing industry this year.

 

Meanwhile, publishers also continue to hope that their situation will not be significantly damaged by the current economic recession. According to the MKKE’s calculations, most of the nearly 68 billion forints earned last year by trade in books consisted of textbooks for the public education system and foreign language textbooks. Simultaneously, in 2008 the market for children’s books increased by one third, while the demand for technical or specialized texts continued to fall. Within the publishing realm, the past few years have also marked a steady decline in the standing of books written for educational purposes. 

 

The truly outstanding results produced two years ago by literary and other fictional works have dwindled slightly, yet the market for fiction still continues to hold an enviably high position worthy of international recognition. 

 

In the area of technical publications, scientific works, encyclopedias, dictionaries and other books pertinent to higher education, 2008 marked a continuation of the most dramatic loss seen in half a decade, a situation brought about by a complete drop in government funding. 

 

At the same time the Association stresses the fact that the market for children’s and young adult fiction provides ample examples of a turning trend, as shown by the more than 30% increase produced in 2008. Furthermore, sales of CD’s , CD-ROM’s and audio books have also produced a similar increase. The sale of audio books barely occupies one percent of the Hungarian market, while the past year has seen obvious developments in the area of disks devoted to the storage of reference information.

 

A total of 172 publishing houses supplied the MMKE with statistics, a sum comprising 90% of the entire publishing industry.  According to the MKKE’s statement, the previous year has revealed no significant changes in the concentration of publishers in Hungary. In 2008 fourteen publishing houses produced 58.3% of the total trade in publications, while sales earned by forty publishers represent two thirds of total trade. The financial position of publishing houses owned by foreign entities continued to strengthen.