Printing and publishing industry

The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

Post-Brexit migration and accessing foreign talent in the Creative Industries
Research paper published by the Creative Industries Policy and Education Centre in March 2023. Explores how the UK's Creative Industries, including Publishing, have been impacted by Brexit with a particular focus on migration and foreign workers.

Market research reports focusing on this business sector are available from a number of market research specialists. In most cases these reports are available to fee-paying subscribers or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

Euromonitor
A full listing of reference products and research reports for printing and publishing from Euromonitor, with a range of global, country and company level reports. Each report provides a contents listing and a useful executive summary reporting on the key trends in each country report.

IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors. Topics include newspaper printing; printing; book retailers; and book, newspaper and magazine publishing. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available. The company also produces global industry research reports.

Mintel
A full listing of reports covering the printing and publishing sector is available, with the option to view the executive summary and a table of contents for each report.

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

• number of enterprises;
• total turnover;
• approximate gross value added at basic prices;
• total purchases of goods, materials and services;
• total employment costs;
• total net capital expenditure;
• total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
• total net capital expenditure – disposals;
• total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
• total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
• total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

• Printing and service activities related to printing (18.1)
  See Section C: Manufacturing
• Manufacture of paints, varnishes, coatings, printing ink and mastics (20.3)
  See Section C: Manufacturing
• Publishing of books, periodicals and other publishing activities (58.1)
  See Section J: Information and communication

Publishers Association (PA)

The PA produces an annual Industry Insights looking at sales and trend analysis, export sales by sector and region and the market size.

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

• number of enterprises
• turnover or gross premiums written
• production value
• value added at factor cost
• gross operating surplus
• wages and salaries
• social security costs
• gross investment in tangible goods
• gross investment in land
• gross investment in existing buildings and structures
• gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
• gross investment in machinery and equipment
• number of employees
• number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

• Printing and service activities related to printing (C181)
• Manufacture of paints, varnishes, coatings, printing ink and mastics (C203)
• Publishing of books, periodicals and other publishing activities (J581)

See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’.

Federation of European Publishers

European Book Market Statistics 2024-25 was published by the Federation of European Publishers in 2025. It provides a range of data and information about book publishing and the book sector in Europe.

INDSTAT

The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) collects and compiles industrial statistics known as INDSTAT, which give information on:

• number of employees
• number of establishments
• output
• value added
• total wages and salaries.

Statistics by country are available for:

• Publishing of books and other publications (2211)
• Publishing of newspapers, journals, etc. (2212)
• Printing (2221)
• Service activities related to printing (2222)
• Paints, varnishes, printing ink and mastics (2422)

UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade)

The UN compiles and publishes international import and export statistics in the Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade), giving figures for goods traded by value, quantity and weight for each country.

Statistics are available for:

• Printed books, newspapers, pictures etc (49)

UN Industrial Commodity Statistics Database

The UN provides statistics on the quantity of goods produced by country in the Industrial Commodity Statistics Database.

Figures are available for:

• Newspapers, journals and periodicals, printed (32)
• Books, brochures and similar printed matter; children's books, in print (32)
• Calendars, advertising material and the like, transfers (decalcomanias), designs and photographs, printed (32)

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for:

• printing trades

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

• Printing and service activities related to printing (181)
• Manufacture of paints, varnishes, coatings, printing ink and mastics (203)
• Publishing of books, periodicals and other publishing activities (581)

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

UK

Gov.uk provides some guidance on the main legislation applicable to various sectors, including international trade regulations for paper and printing.

The British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) provides legal support on human resources, health and safety, technical and business issues.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a section on health and safety in printing, which includes latest regulations affecting this industry.

Trade Tariff

The Trade Tariff is a useful Gov.uk database listing tax, duties and licenses for the import and export of goods between the UK and other countries. The database is searchable by product or commodity code and results can be filtered by date and country. Information also includes links to relevant conditions and regulations.

See import and export information for:

• printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans

The Library can supply business guides on this sector to ICAEW members and students.

The websites of trade bodies in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.

UK

• British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF)
• Independent Print Industries Association (IPIA)
• Independent Publishers Guild (IPG)
• Institute of Paper, Print and Publishing (IP3)
• Professional Publishers Association (PPA)
• Publishers Association (PA)

Europe

• Federation of European Publishers (FEP)
• Intergraf: International Confederation for Printing and Allied Industries

Middle East

• Arab Publishers Association

Americas

• Association of American Publishers (AAP)
• CONLATINGRAF: Confederación Latinoamericana de la Industria Gráfica
• Grupo Iberoamericano de Editores
• National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM) (US)
• NPES: The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies (US)
• Printing Industries of America

Asia

• Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA)

Global

• Smithers Pira
• International Publishers Association (IPA)
• World Print and Communication Forum (WPCF)

The IPA provides a full list of members with links and contact details.

Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.

• Whitmar Publications (publisher of Print and Paper Monthly; Digital Printer; Flexotech)
• Print Business
• Print Week
• The Bookseller

Book, Magazine and Newspaper Industry: British Library
British Library industry guides provide listings of resources for industry-specific information, including print directories and materials held by the British Library. .

Contact the British Library Business and IP Centre for more information.