Book exports posted solid gains in the first half of 2004, increasing 7.8%, to $829.3 million. Moreover, exports to America's top 15 export markets rose 9.8% in the period, to $751.9 million.

Exports to Canada, America's largest international market, rose 6.9% in the first half of 2004, to $362.7 million. Exports to the U.K. increased at a healthy 15.9% rate, to $150.3 million, while exports to Japan rose 12.5%, to $51.3 million. Exports to Australia fell 3.3%, to $35.8 million. The largest gain among America's largest trading partners was in exports to Singapore, which had a 40.1% increase—to $32.8 million—a gain that tied Singapore with Mexico as the fifth largest market for U.S. books. Exports to Mexico rose 9.6%.

Among the major subject categories, exports of textbooks rose 40% in the first six months, to $206.4 million. Exports of hardcovers and mass market paperbacks also had solid gains in the period, with exports rising by 32% in both segments, putting mass market exports at $116.2 million and hardcover shipments at $68.6 million. Bible exports increased 13.8%, to $40 million.

Boosted in part by a 43.8% increase in imports from China, books imported into the U.S. rose 10.9% in the first half of 2004, to $847.7 million. Imports from China, which is becoming a major manufacturing site for books, hit $210.7 million in the first six months of 2004. Imports from the U.K. fell 11.6% in the six-month period, to $132.2 million, while imports from Canada increased 9.8%, to $140.7 million, pushing Canada ahead of the U.K. as the second-largest exporter of books to the U.S. Imports from Hong Kong fell 8.8%, to $77.8 million, while imports from Singapore rose 17.3%.

U.S. Book Exports, January—June 2003—2004 ($ in millions)

COUNTRY 2003 2004 % CHANGE
Source: U.S. Commerce Department
Canada $339.4 $362.7 6.9%
United Kingdom 129.7 150.3 15.9
Japan 45.6 51.3 12.5
Australia 37.0 35.8 -3.3
Mexico 29.9 32.8 9.6
Singapore 23.4 32.8 40.1
Germany 17.5 15.8 -9.6
Korea 11.0 14.5 34.0
Hong Kong 8.6 10.7 24.7
China 7.7 9.1 17.9
South Africa 4.9 8.6 72.2
Netherlands 9.0 8.3 -8.1
India 7.5 7.1 -5.8
Taiwan 7.1 6.5 -8.7
Philippines 6.4 5.3 -17.2
Total, Top 15 $684.8 $ 751.9 9.8%
Total, World 769.7 829.3 7.8