Exports of American books fell nearly 3% in 1998 to $1.84 billion, according to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The decline in 1998 compares to a 6.8% increase recorded in 1997.
Exports to America's two largest book trading partners, Canada and the U.K., fell 1.9% and 6.8%, respectively. Despite the decline, Canada easily maintained its status as the largest market for American books, with exports in 1998 totaling slightly more than $807 million.
The strength of the dollar, as well as weakness in a number of foreign markets, were the two major factors in pushing down export sales last year. The problems in the Asian economy were reflected in export declines to Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea. Exports to Japan, however, rose 10.8% in the year and soared by more than 161% to China, making China the 13th largest book market for American publishers in 1998. Difficulties in the Brazilian economy resulted in a 31% drop in book exports.
Besides China, other countries to which meaningful export gains were recorded included Belgium, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia.
