Book production on rise in Turkey

ISTANBUL

More than 561 million copies of books were published in Turkey last year, according to a recently released report from the Turkish Publishers' Union. The figure equaled over seven books for every citizen of the country.

According to the report, 71 percent of the titles published in Turkey in 2014 were educational books, 11 percent were non-fiction books, 9 percent were faith books, 5 percent were children’s books, 3 percent were adult fiction books, and 1 percent were academic publications.

Some 59.5 percent of all books were produced in Istanbul, while 27.5 percent were produced in the capital Ankara, and 13 percent were produced in İzmir. 

Figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) show that the number of books per person was 7.3 in 2014. In total, the number of books published in 2014 rose by 4.6 percent compared to the previous year.

The total profits of the publishing sector rose to $2.3 million, an increase of 2.9 percent.

The Education Ministry delivered over 261 million school books for free to primary and secondary school students in 2014.

The data for the Turkish Publishers' Union report was based on information from the Education Ministry and the Federation of Professional Associations of Publishers.

According to data from the International Publishers Association (IPA), Turkey's publishing sector ranks as the 12th largest in the world.