Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

5International trade in creative goods and services: Global trends and featuresKey players in the global marketFor the reasons mentioned earlier, it is not helpful topresent the list of the key players in the world market foraudiovisuals since it would give an erroneous picture of theglobal market. The figures reported are few and relatively low,even from countries with advanced systems for collecting statisticaldata. (For details, see in particular tables 2.5.1.A and2.5.1.B for audiovisual services as well as the tables for creativegoods provided in the annex 1.2.A and 1.2.B).India, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Thailand andArgentina are the main exporters of audiovisual goods fromthe South. India has diversified both its products and the targetmarkets, the same strategy adopted by Mexico, Argentinaand Thailand, while the Republic of Korea aims to diversifyits markets and Singapore is the most diversified in terms ofexport products.5.6.5 Publishing and printed mediaFeaturesThe intellectual assets and the creativity driving thepublishing and printed media are broadly expressed in theform of literary production translated into all kinds ofbooks (novels, poetry, educational, professional, etc.) and theprinted media translated into all kinds of news circulated asnewspapers, magazines, etc. Publishing and printed mediastill constitutes an important subgroup of the creative industriesfrom both the cultural and the economic point of view.Technologically, however, the publishing and mediaindustries face new challenges due to the growing trendtowards electronic publishing. The explosion of distributivemedia and the shrinking distance between the author and theconsumer provides an opportunity for new market entrants.In the case of publishing, the introduction of 13-digit ISBNnumbers several years ago made it possible to track productsthrough each stage of the value chain. Efficient services nowmonitor the retail sale of books, making it easier to analysemarket information for retailers, publishes and the media. 44Regionally publishers and even authors conduct their owndistribution by visiting the respective markets, with largerbookstores in most cases serving as national distributors.Nevertheless, growing sales suggest that electronic andprinted media can coexist. Retail bookshops are becomingmore attractive to readers at the same time that they are betterequipped for online sales. Most important is the fact that theannual number of new book titles is not decreasing. The newspaperindustry is reacting in its own way in different parts ofthe world to the shifts in the printed media industry broughtabout by new technologies. In Europe, where news coverage ismore global than local, and where affordable broadbandInternet has the world’s greatest penetration, 45 circulation ofprinted newspapers is declining. In developing economies,however, where news is more locally focused and Internetaccess is more costly, the circulation of printed daily newspapersdoes not appear to be affected as greatly by electronicpublishing. Another important aspect is that print media arenourished by advertising revenues and these two creativeindustries are interdependent and mutually supportive. It isimportant to remember that the publishing and printed mediaindustries are responsible for many jobs, including those ofvery influential writers, editors and journalists willing to helpshape public opinion and adapt to this changing situation.In this scenario, the analysis presented in this report isbased on physical goods only. E-commerce or trade of digitalizedcreative content such as books, journals and newspapersis not captured in the figures shown owing to theunavailability of data.International tradeThe global market for internationally traded goodsfrom the publishing and printed media industries totalled$48 billion in 2008, compared to $30 billion in 2002.These creative industries had an annual growth rate of 7.3per cent during this period and accounted for 8.15 per centof total trade of all creative goods in 2008. The most tradedcreative product from this group was books, whoseexports increased from $11 billion in 2002 to $19 billion in2008. Global sales of printed newspapers grew from $12.2billion to $17.5 billion during this period. Finally, exports of“other printed materials” nearly doubled from $6 billion to$11 billion. This group includes catalogues, brochures,advertising material, posters, calendars, maps and greetingcards (tables 1.2.A and 1.2.B in the annex).Developed economies dominated the world market forpublishing and printed media exports, accounting for 80 percent of world exports in 2008. European exports rose to$27.5 billion in this year. Eight of the top ten exporters wereEuropean countries. Germany and the United States ranked44 For further information visit http://www.bookscan.com.45 UNCTAD (2006). Information Economy Report 2006: The Development Perspective.154 CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010