• FALL: The total number of bookstores across Mexico shrank more than 30% in less than three years from around 1,530 in 2016 to around 1,070 in 2019, according to recent estimates by Mexico’s Booksellers Association (ALMAC). Mexico’s population is 119 million.
• EMERGENCY: The trade group lamented that the Mexican Congress did not eliminate the 16% value-added tax (IVA) to the sale of books in its most recent changes to tax law an obstacle that other businesses like drugstores and butcher shops don’t face.
• INCONSISTENT: “It’s incredible that the most punished activity in Mexico is the sale of books. It’s absurd, it is absolutely inconsistent with what we are looking for in terms of raising reading rates, looking for a country with critical thinking”, says Georgina Abud, head of ALMAC.
• READING: At the same time, the share of adult population in Mexico that says it has read one book in the past year has also fallen from 45.9% in 2016 to 42.2% in 2019, according to a February survey by Mexico’s national statistics (INEGI).
