E-books slow as print sales rise

PHYSICAL sales of books are on the rise in France - with a report suggesting that the growth of e-books will remain sluggish in the French market for several years yet.

French bookshop union SLF says sales of printed books are up 2.3% in a year. SLF president Mathieu de Montchalin said France continued to benefit from "a strong network of book stores".

Meanwhile the e-book industry represents a market share of just 6% of all book sales in France.

Audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts that e-books will account for 13% of the book sales market by 2019, compared with 59% in the US and 57% in the UK.

The e-book market is also struggling to take off in neighbouring Germany, where it accounts for 5.6% of sales.