Publishing and printing activities in the EU

This publication describes the structure and trends in the EU publishing and printing sector, with a specific focus on publishing. The sector provided jobs to 1.9 million people and generated more than EUR 92 billion of value added in the EU-25, according to latest available structural business statistics. Publishing experienced growth very similar to manufacturing until 2000, but a more severe contraction until 2004, with sharply falling profits. Newspapers grew by 13% between 1995 and 2004, while book publishing has been in decline since 1998. Despite this, publishing of books was the most profitable, while newspapers was characterised by relatively high personnel costs and low profitability.