Education and Science, Latvia, Markets and Companies

The number of books published in 2017 dropped by six from 2016, while their total print run decreased from 2.76 million copies to 2.46 million copies.

Elza Ungure, a researcher at the National Library of Latvia, commented that the number of books published annually had remained virtually unchanged over the past five years but their print run has been constantly falling.

Last year, 58% of the publishers recorded by the National Library of Latvia only put out only one book each, as the National Library of Latvia collects data not only on commercial publishing houses but also other entities publishing books.

Apgads Zvaigzne ABC, Latvijas Mediji and Jumava publishing houses accounted for 44% of the total number of books printed in 2017. Apgads Zvaigzne ABC published 364 books, accounting for 28% of the total print run. Latvijas Mediji put out 95 books, accounting for 12% of the total print run and Jumava published 147 books, ensuring 4% of the total print run.