The publishing crisis is also the crisis of the “newsagents”. In 4 years, almost 2.700 newsstands have disappeared throughout the country, of which 2.327 were individual businesses. A net loss of more than 16% (-18,6% considering only individual businesses), with double-digit variation rates in many provinces, starting from Isernia, which saw over a third of local units close, Trieste which records a -31,1%, Ancona which exceeds -30%.
The processing, carried out by Unioncamere-InfoCamere on the data from the business register, shows that, in practice, only Bolzano e Sondrio, thanks to the opening of a new newsstand in the four-year period, see this type of business grow, while Oristano maintains all of its 51 newspaper outlets.
At the end of last September, however, newspaper and magazine outlets numbered around 13.500, while in September 2019 they were over 16. In absolute terms, it is the readers of newspapers, especially in Rome, who today have to deal with the rarefaction of “newsagents”: in the provincial territory there are 1.138 left, 303 less than four years ago (-21%). Even in Turin, however, newspapers and magazines seem to be much less fashionable.
Here today there are 501 resellers, 138 less than in September 2019 (-21,6%), while Milan loses 129 (-11,9%), thus falling below a thousand newsstands. The reduction in resellers is not only a damage for those who continue to prefer to update themselves on printed paper rather than on digital tools, it is also a shame in terms of the growth of the female and youth component in the company.
Considering the almost 12 thousand businesses registered at the end of September (net of additional local units), 4.450 are women and 701 are young. This means that the profession of newsagent is very popular among female entrepreneurs, who in this area represent more than 37% of the total registered businesses, with a presence, therefore, much more consistent than what happens considering the total of businesses (of which female businesses represent approximately 22%).
However, newsstands run by women have decreased in four years even more than the national average of the sector, losing almost 1.100 businesses (-19,6%). This activity, however, does not seem to be very popular with young people under 35, who today own only 5,9% of newsstands active in Italian territories, 528 less than four years ago (-43%).
Article published on 3 January 2024 - 11:25
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