AIE says the Italian comics market is showing superpowered dynamics among consumers, tripling its punch in six years.

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

‘Only One in Three Italians’ Has Never Read a Comic

When you speak of robust formats in various markets today, many in world book publishing of course tend to get weak at the knees when you mention audiobooks. They share visions of soaring profits and ears filled with literature, supported by statistical analysis that does indeed show many gains for audio.

In the Italian market, however, its’ comics that in six years have tripled their market clout. The format has made the most growth, selling in bookstores, on online retail sites, and in supermarkets, since 2019.

Today (October 29), the Association of Italian Publishers (Associazione Italiana Editori, AIE) has brought the work of its industry-leading analytics department to bear on this comics boom in Italy, in order to present a program at this year’s Lucca Comics & Games 25 festival, which runs through Sunday (November 2), from 9 to 7 p.m. daily in the Tuscan town of Lucca on the Serchio River.

Some of the top-line information in the AIE’s report on comics in the Italian market:

In the first nine months of 2019, 2.14 million copies of comics were sold, with a sales value of €20.1 million (USD$20 million).

By this year, the AIE tells us, “Sales had risen to 6.28 million copies, equivalent to €59.5 million in consumer spending (US$69.03 million)–a profound growth of 193 percent in units and 196 percent in value, respectively.

Six Years of Growth

The program presenting and analyzing these points was presented today at 4 p.m. at the Chiesetta dell’Agora, and featured:

• Greetings from Giovanni Russo, head of institutional affairs at Lucca Crea;
• Giovanni Peresson, head of AIE’s research department;
• Publishers Claudia Bovini (Star Comics), Emanuele Di Giorgi (Tunué – AIE), Giovanni Mattioli (Sergio Bonelli Editore), and Matteo Montanari (Panini Comics); and
• Moderator Luca Raffaelli.

One in four Italians have reported to AIE’s researchers that they’ve read comics in the past year.

Only one in three says that she or he has never read anything in the genre, per the AIE Reading Observatory.

• One description of the key readership for comics in Italy refers to the comics consumer as “a curious reader with varied interests and exploring other genres,” as well.
• The phenomenon appears to hold interest, as well, among those who once read comics but have yet to return, the presentation’s information saying, “Three percent, despite having read comics previously, have not done so in the last year, and a further 39 percent have read comics in the distant past, later moving on to other genres and reading styles.
• Forty-eight percent of those who haven’t read comics in the last 12 months say that they’ve only temporarily put them aside in favor of crime, horror, romance, fantasy, science-fiction, and other work.
• “Put another way: only one in three Italians—34 percent—has never read a comic book.”

Trends and Demographics

• 

  One of a portfolio of this year’s posters for the Lucca Comics & Games festival 2025. Image: Luca Comics & Games

  Manga, since 2019, has grown by 280.7 in Italy, AIE says, and now accounts for 74.4 percent of all comic book sales.

• Children’s comics have grown by 270.6 percent and now reportedly represent 14.3 percent of sales.
• Graphic novels have grown by 12.5 percent, representing 10.1 percent of the market.
• Comic strips alone have declined by 30.2 percent, currently accounting for a marginal market share of 1.2 percent of all sales.

While comic book readers account for members of the population who are between 15 and 74 years old, “This percentage rises to 32 percent among men.

In Italy, comics are read by:

• Fifty percent of 18-to-24-year-olds;
• Forty-nine percent of 15-to-17-year olds;
• Thirty-eight percent of 25-to-34-year-olds

Twenty-nine percent of comics readers in Italy are reported to be college graduates, and 29 percent are “heavy readers,” which is defined as reading  more than 12 books annually, excluding comics.

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More from Publishing Perspectives on the Italian book industry and marketplace—generally considered to be Europe’s fourth book marketplace—is here. Information on the Guest of Honor Italy program that preceded this year’s programming from the Philippines at Frankfurter Buchmesse is here. And coverage over the years of comics here at Publishing Perspectives is here.

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