No. 16: Magazine market is shrinking consistently (December 29, 2011)

The magazine market will supposedly decrease to less than 1,000 billion yen in 2011 for the first time in 27 years. The annual sales are estimated to decrease 6-7% from the previous year to 985 billion yen in 2011. Annual magazine sales increased continuously after 1951 when the statistics began to be released and peaked at 1,565 billion yen in 1997. Subsequently, however, sales decreased 13 years in a row mostly because of the spread of the Internet.

The number of titles decreased to 3,453 in 2010 after it peaked at 3,652 in 2006. About 160 titles including information magazines and fashion magazines will be suspended or discontinued in 2011. A leading book dealer told, “With the spread of smartphones, the means that people use to get information are undergoing a radical change.” Although the decreased sales can partly be attributable to the distribution channels damaged by the East Japan Great Earthquake in March, smartphones are surely replacing magazines as a means to collect information among consumers. Book sales are expected to remain almost the same at 820 billion yen in 2011, making the total market of magazines and books decrease 4% from the previous year to 1,805 billion yen.