Prices for books in stores increased by 14%

According to the Moscow House of Books, the average price of a book rose to 615 rubles in a month. This is 14% more expensive than books cost this month a year ago, RBC writes . Prices for books in "Chitay-gorod" increased by an average of 12%. You can now buy one copy for an average of 439 rubles, they say in the store.

As prices rise for this category of goods, the demand for it also falls. For the month, the number of buyers in bookstores decreased by 22% in annual terms. Compared to the pre-coronavirus period, sales in bookstores have fallen by 42%, they say in the Moscow House of Books. "Chitay-Gorod" notes a drop in demand last month by 10% compared to March. Compared to sales in April last year, more books were sold in 2022, but it was not possible to return to pre-coronavirus sales figures.

The Russian Book Union believes that the main reason for the decline in demand for books is the increase in their cost. In addition, an increasing number of Russians are switching from reading paper books to electronic ones. For example, the portal for the provision of electronic and audio books "LitRes" notes that sales of electronic books in April increased by 7% compared to this month a year ago and by 54% compared to the pre-coronavirus period. At the same time, prices for e-books rose by 2%.