Comic book sales exploded in 2021 in France, with a 60% increase in the number of albums sold in one year, according to a study published by the GFK group on January 27.
According to this survey, more than one in two comics sold is a manga.
Manga thus represent 42% of sales in volume this year.
A result which is also explained by the release of new volumes of emblematic series such as One Piece (Ed.Glénat), or Naruto (Ed.Kana), both present in the Top 10 of Manga sales 2020.
twice as many readers as ten years ago
One and a half million people who bought a comic book in 2021 hadn’t done so the previous year. Nearly a quarter of literature sold (24%) comes from the comic book shelves, twice as much as ten years ago, with 12% in 2012.
“GfK’s Consumer Intelligence studies reveal that 65% of comic book purchases are intended for people under 30, a proportion up six points compared to 2019, comments Camille Oriot, senior consultant for GfK Books. We observe that each universe has its audience and that comics can accompany readers throughout their lives.”
Thus, Youth comics are geared towards very young readers, with 58% of purchases for people under 15 years old. 62% of the manga is bought by people between the ages of 15 and 29. For comics, the recipients are between 15 and 29 years old, or even older.
Finally, genre comics are aimed at an audience of very balanced ages, with an almost equal proportion of purchases aimed at those aged 15 to 29, 30 to 49 and 50 and over.